In Dragons We Trust
by Zenmaster21
Summary: Astrid is the village embarrassment, while Hiccup is the axe slinging Viking. Role reversal. However, I'm not just switching their names around. Rating is due to swearing, violence, and blood, all mild. Narrated by Astrid. Cover image provided by xxXMidnight BlazeXxx. Stole an episode name :)
1. Welcome To Berk

**NOTES (I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND READING THEM):**

**1) **_I noticed that the first movie didn't have a very big variety of dragons; they only showed Zipplebacks, Nadders, Gronkles, Nightmares, and Terrors, plus Toothless, but nothing else. So, I'm going to try to add in some dragons from the series, dragons that have been officially named from the second movie, and I'm going to attempt to put in some dragons from the book as well. All my information on these dragons comes from the httyd wiki._

**2) **_The timeline in which Valka disappeared is going to be a bit altered. Hiccup is going to be a bit older than an infant during her disappearance._

**3) **_I'm going to attempt - notice the word __**attempt**__ - to put some Viking terminology in here. I love history, it's my favorite subject, and my favorite era to study is the Viking Age. I love their culture, I think it's very interesting, so I wanted to try and add in some things from the Viking Age in here. It seems to me that the movie is very anachronistic - something or someone that is not in its correct chronological time period - in the way they talk and behave, as if they were in our own time period. I'm going try to keep their casual behavior, while still adding in some practices and terms from the Viking Age. Viking terms are going to be in italics, but try not to confuse terms with words that are italicized simply for exaggeration._

**4) **_I may or may not mention some characters from the book. They won't actually appear, but their names or their tribes may be mentioned. This is something I'm still deciding on, though._

**5)** _I know absolutely nothing about blacksmithing, so I'm definitely going to get some terms wrong. The only thing I know about it is that you heat up metal and hammer it out, and that the thing you heat it up with is called a hearth. That's it. I know nothing about tools or supplies or leather and woodwork. So, if you know anything about it, feel free to correct me and I'll go back and fix it._

**6)** _I don't want to just switch the character's names and then script out the movie. I want to make it original, while still following the movie plot and keeping some things about the characters in here. Hiccup, for example, will still be an inventor and designer at the forge. The first two or three chapters are going to be very similar to the original story before branching off into something different, so please be patient._

**7)**_ I used some deleted scenes from the movie._

**8)**_ The narration will be done by Astrid. I'm telling you this, despite it being obvious, because, once I write the series, the episodes will be narrated by both Hiccup and Astrid, and the second movie, once I write it, will be narrated by Hiccup; sort of like I'm transitioning it... or something like that._

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the slightly changed plotline.**

* * *

_This is Berk._

_It's twelve days North of Hopeless and a few degrees South of Freezing-to-Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery._

_My village is, in a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. It's actually a relatively nice place to be; life here is somewhat normal with hunting, fishing, hiking, and a nice view of the sunsets._

_The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have..._

Astrid heard the warning bell ring long before the shouting, the roaring, and the explosions. She was surprised the warning came so early considering the moon was still out, as well as several clouds, making it a bit difficult to see the beasts before they attacked.

Her mother had told her to wait until it was safe before meeting her at their post, but, really, how safe could it possibly get with the chaos going on around them?

She didn't want to wait anymore.

She opened her front door, only to start at the sight of a large red dragon hovering near it. The Monstrous Nightmare immediately took notice of her and Astrid, hearing the hiss of the gas building up in its throat, immediately slammed her door shut just as the dragon released a stream of fire at her. She cringed when she felt some heat seep through the wood, a few tendrils of smoke floating into the air.

She stood up a bit straighter, breathing out, "Dragons..."

She turned, opening her door once again, checking left and right to make sure there were no dragons near before sprinting into the battlefield.

_Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues._

_My name's Astrid. What? Think that's a weird name? Well, some of the greatest female Vikings in history were named Astrid, so I have no problem with it. Besides, it's not the worst name out there. There are plenty of superstitious Vikings who believe that a hideous name will ward off gnomes and trolls._

_Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._

A ball of fire hit the ground near her, rocking the ground and knocking her onto her back. The explosion must of caught a few others off guard, as a large, burly Viking landed on top of her. He held up his axe, giving her a threatening look.

"AHHHH!" He let loose a war cry before suddenly giving her a rather pleasant smile and speaking in a cheery voice, "Mornin'."

He hopped onto his feet, running into battle once again, and Astrid sat up, watching him go with a look of annoyance plastered onto her face. The explosion that had knocked her down had made her ears ring, and the scream in her face didn't help much with that.

Yeah, charming Viking demeanor.

_Wondering about my clothes, why they're so different than everyone else's? Well, they're actually my mother's; this armor was worn by her when she was my age. Her mother had made them for her, saying that the clothes make the Viking._

_Apparently, tough, warrior clothes should make me a tough, warrior Viking._

_Well, you know what, it doesn't work._

Astrid used her small size to her advantage, weaving past the much larger Vikings as they ran past her. She ignored their shouts to get back inside; didn't they know she had a post to get to?

She was a bit irked at their words and their tone. They should be grateful; _she_ was the one that made sure they didn't bleed to death, tended to their burns, and kept them safe from infection.

Yeah, they should definitely be grateful.

Astrid turned a corner, skipping past a few Vikings, not noticing that she was about to run into a dragon's line of fire. She suddenly felt herself get yanked backward by her wrappings, her feet off the ground. She glanced over before squeezing her eyes shut, having caught Stoick's irritated eyes.

Stoick was a large bear of a man, with thick red hair and dark green eyes, and a Scott accent to top it all off. Said eyes had an annoyed glint in them as he looked her over before addressing her with a bellowing voice. "_Astrid?_" He gave some of the men surrounding them a look of irritation. "What is she doin' out agai-" He cut himself off, sighing heavily through his nose as he turned his attention back on her. "What're you doin' out again? Get back inside!"

He flung her to the side, and she ran forward a little in an attempt to catch her balance. She glanced back at him for a brief moment before running off again, rolling her eyes in irritation.

Once again, the inconsiderate twits were ungrateful.

_That's Stoick the Vast, Chief of our tribe. They say when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it?_

Stoick glanced to the side, catching sight of a green Nadder flying off with a sheep held in its claws. Stoick immediately grabbed an abandoned cart, flinging it with ease as if it were a small, wooden shield, and it hit its target. The Nadder went down, falling from the sky, dropping the sheep in the process.

_Yes. Yes I do._

Stoick breathed out a sigh before glancing to one of the many nameless Vikings surrounding him, his voice commanding. "What've we got?"

"So far we've only got Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks... oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

"Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good."

Vikings scattered all around the village, attempting to avoid each other and the chaos surrounding them at the same time. Explosions from the dragons' fire rocked the ground and set ablaze several buildings. A few Vikings ran toward enormous torches, lighting them up and hoisting them in the air with large braziers, illuminating the dozens of dragons flying in the air.

Astrid made it to her post, ducking under the arm of a waiting Viking as she ran into the _longhouse._ He mother, a rather tiny woman with loosely braided blond hair, sat next to a surprisingly quiet Viking who held up his arm for her, dressing the cuts and burns on it, rubbing in some herbs to avoid infection. **[1]**

The woman gave a small smile as Astrid ran past her, grabbing a small basket of medical supplies before walking up to the waiting Viking, searching him for his wounds.

"Well there you are, Astrid," She said, "I was afraid you'd been carried off."

"Who, me? C'mon, Mom, what would they actually _do_ with me?" Astrid grinned as she crushed some herbs in the small cup in her hands before using the crusher to scoop some up and rub them on the claw marks on the man's arms. He tensed up at the stinging feeling, but, true to the Viking way, made no sound or movement, keeping his pain to himself.

"They could use you for a toothpick."

Astrid scoffed, "You got that from Gobber; he says it to Hiccup all the time."

"Maybe," Her mother smiled sweetly as she wrapped some gauze around her patient's arm.

_That's my mother, Thora. She's one of the best healer's in the village, second only to the Elder. Actually, she was trained by the Elder, apprenticed under her when she was young. Elder Gothi taught her everything she knows, and now she's teaching me. She's had me working my post in the medic hut ever since I was little. Well... littl__**er**__._

_She's very small; always has been. I'm pretty sure she's the reason I'm so small myself. But, she's proven her worth as a warrior time and time again, taking down dragons of any size despite her small stature. She simply chooses to work in the medic hut; her reasons are sensible, saying we don't have enough healers in this village to begin with, which is true._

_She says she's proud of me, and the woman I'm turning into, but I'm not sure what to think about that. I can barely even lift a bucket of water, let alone help out during the Raids._

_I want to be like her, prove I'm a worthy Viking despite being so small._

Stoick ran across the wooden walkway, several men behind him, houses catching aflame one by one as he ran past them. Right now, he wasn't Stoick, he was the Chief, and his voice was loud and left no room for questioning as he relayed orders to his men.

"Move to the lower defenses! We'll counter-attack with the catapults!"

Several "Aye's!" resounded as his men ran past him, running to their new posts. An explosion went off next to him, and Stoick ducked his head as the fire grew more wild, running down a narrow pathway, avoiding debris from the fire as they fell around him.

_See? Old village, but plenty of new houses._

Astrid glanced up as she finished wrapping gauze around the shoulder of the large Viking in front of her, a loud shout about a fire reaching her ears. She wanted to scoff and roll her eyes, but she held the urge back.

They were battling fire-breathing beasts, of course there was going to be fire. And even then, there was already fire spreading throughout the village; they shouldn't just now be shouting about it.

Curiously, she walked up to the open window, placing her hands on the ledge as she poked her head out. She could hear a husky female voice, one she recognized, that was faint but decisive.

"Alright! Let's go!"

Four people her age ran past the window, pushing and pulling an almost wheelbarrow. It really wasn't a wheelbarrow, it was just moved around like one. It was a large water barrel with a tiny opening and lid to let the water pour out. The barrel had a stand, handles, and wheels attached to it, which is what helped it move around like a wheelbarrow. It was built when the decision to make the Fire Brigade was made; it was designed to move around fast, as well as carry a few buckets, so the members of the Fire Brigade could carry plenty of water around and put out as many fires as they can.

There were only four members of the Fire Brigade, but they made a big difference in how many houses burnt down.

_Oh, and that's Fishlegs._

Fishlegs was a large boy, the biggest and strongest of their age group, with short, stringy blonde hair. His appearance may be intimidating, but the affect wears off the second his face is seen, his peaceful yet nervous expression putting those intimidated by him at ease. Not to mention his personality; he was very kind and gentle, quiet and a bit of a nerd when it came to dragons.

He loved facts and learning rather than fighting and pillaging, something that set him apart from the other Vikings. His personality was actually ignored due to his strength and ability to wield weapons, as the physical was much more favored by Viking-kind than the mental.

He should probably count himself lucky that he was born so strong because if he wasn't, he would probably be in the same situation as Astrid.

_Snotlout._

Snotlout was... an arrogant git to say the least. Astrid wasn't sure what to think about him. His personality really put her off; sometimes he made fun of her, sometimes he hit on her _(which really wasn't appreciated)_. She supposed she couldn't really blame him; he most likely inherited that part of his personality from his father. Spitelout was just as arrogant, maybe even more so, as Snotlout.

She's seen the way Spitelout treats him; it wasn't _'Do your best and I'll be proud'_ like most other parents, it was _'__**Be**__ the best or I'll __**never**__ accept you'_.

Spitelout loved his son - Astrid could see it in the harsh man's eyes - but he was too busy trying to compete with his brother-in-law and his son, Snotlout's uncle and cousin. It almost made her feel sorry for the little twat. **[2]**

Almost.

_The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut._

Ruffnut, the female, and Tuffnut, the male, were only fraternal twins, but looked amazingly identical. They were constantly fighting over the littlest of things; many people thought of them as dimwitted, but they really weren't, they were just easily distracted by their fights.

Astrid didn't really talk to Tuffnut much, so she wasn't sure what to think of him. The same thing could be said about his sister, though she and Astrid talked quite a bit.

Ruffnut was the embodiment of the female Viking way; tough, strong, hot tempered, punch first and ask questions later. But, she was still a female, and all women needed a girlfriend every once in a while. Because she and Astrid were the only girls of their age group, Astrid was the one she latched onto.

They didn't talk much about personal things, Ruffnut's pride getting in the way of asking for advice about her female problems, but they did get along. Though, sometimes Ruffnut did make fun of her, but Astrid never really got mad at her for it; it was just the way Ruffnut was, she loved a good joke, especially the mean ones.

She supposed she could call Ruffnut her friend.

_And there's someone else that completes our little group of misfits._

"Astrid."

Astrid started at the sound of her mother's voice, realizing that she had gotten distracted by watching the chaos outside. She turned to face Thora, coming face to face with the small woman's patient smile.

"Astrid, go take post at the forge. I know a few stubborn ones who would rather have their weapons sharpened before their wounds cleaned."

Astrid gave a small nod before grabbing a small traveling box of medical supplies off the counter and running outside. She avoided the larger Vikings as she made her way toward the forge, glancing briefly at the small line of Vikings at the window.

She nearly ran straight into Hiccup as he carried his weapons toward the hearth.

"Careful!" The auburn haired boy barked, nearly dropping the two large swords in his arms at his sudden stop in an attempt to not run into her.

"Sorry!" Astrid scrambled to the side, getting out of his way as he walked to the hearth, dropping the weapons on it before pumping it to increase the heat.

_That's Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III to be exact. Don't think his name is tough? Well, I'd like to see you tell him that to his face._

_He's the apprentice of Gobber, the village blacksmith, a meathead with interchangeable arms and an attitude. He's been apprenticed under Gobber ever since he was little, working at the forge day and night, creating beautifully crafted weapons with intricate designs on them._

_It's something that sets him apart from Gobber; Gobber is a wonderful blacksmith, don't get me wrong, but Hiccup has an eye for detail._

Astrid watched him hammer out the swords for a moment before looking around. The forge was relatively large, with a tiny room in the back that Astrid knows Hiccup had taken over for himself. There was a small desk sitting to the side, covered in parchment and a few contraptions.

Astrid, curious, grabbed one of the parchment pieces, looking over the design drawn on it. It looked like a... flying suit. But people can't fly, can they? **[3]**

Astrid glanced back at Hiccup for a brief moment as he worked at the sharpening wheel before turning back to the design. It kind of reminded her of a flying squirrel, only the wings were more dragon-like, and there was a fin-like piece jutting out of the back section.

She set the paper down before glancing around the forge again, catching sight of a contraption sitting in the corner. It looked like a wheelbarrow, but she could see that the middle part could open up. **[4]**

She glanced over at Hiccup again, seeing him hand out some weapons to the waiting Vikings through the window, before walking up to it. She reached out a curious hand.

"Don't touch that!"

Astrid started when the warning came too late, and she let out a surprised sound when the contraption suddenly jumped and swung upward. She speedily ducked to the side as a bola suddenly flew past her, smacking a waiting Viking at the forge window right in the head, and he went down with a thwack and a surprised shout.

Astrid pursed her lips before slowly turning to Hiccup, shrugging helplessly at the annoyed look in his eyes. She cleared her throat, giving a small, nervous smile, "So what is that, anyway?"

"It's a bola launcher," Hiccup answered, his tone surprisingly patient. It was something that confused her about him; he never seemed to lose his patient tone with her, even when she pissed him off and he looked like he wanted to throttle her. "It's supposed to throw bolas harder and further than what Vikings can normally do. But it's got some calibration issues to work out."

Astrid nodded absentmindedly, looking back at the bola launcher as Hiccup brushed past her to grab more weapons to sharpen.

_That's another thing about Hiccup. He's an amazing inventor, keeps coming up with awesome designs and contraptions, proficient at woodwork, metalwork, ironwork, and leather designs. It's one of the reasons I believe he's surpassed Gobber a long time ago. In fact, he's the one who came up with the Fire Brigade and designed the water barrel._

Hiccup was amazing at the forge, but it seemed like no one other than her and Gobber noticed it. As mentioned before, Vikings seemed to only notice the physical rather than the mental.

They didn't understand why Hiccup never wanted to go out during the Raids, instead wanting to stay and work in the forge. They didn't understand his inventions, why he invented, the things he said or did. They didn't understand why he constantly disappeared into the woods or why he drew or why he was so quiet all the time.

But, he could swing an axe even better than most veteran Vikings, so they let his 'weird and different' behavior go.

Like Fishlegs, if he didn't have his strength and proficiency with an axe, he would probably be in the same boat as Astrid.

"So where's Gobber?" Astrid asked as she watched him run an axe over the sharpening wheel. She recognized it as the axe he constantly carried around, whether it was out in the open or hidden from view. **[5]**

"He ran out; said they needed him or something."

"Mmm."

A small pause.

Astrid suddenly grinned, "Hey, Hiccup-"

"No."

"But I just-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I-"

"You're not going out."

Astrid huffed, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg, giving him an irritant look, "Why can't I? I need to make my mark."

"You've made your mark, Astrid," Hiccup said, not even glancing up from his work, "In all the wrong places."

"Hiccup, please, just... two minutes. I'll kill a dragon and my life will get infinitely better."

"Astrid, not even I have killed a dragon yet."

Okay, that was true.

Hiccup lifted his axe, twisting it from side to side, checking it over before glancing up at her. He rolled his eyes a little at her irritant look before huffing, crossing his own arms as he looked back at her.

"Look, you can't lift a hammer."

That's true.

"You can't swing an axe."

Also true.

Hiccup snatched up a bola that was sitting on the window counter, holding it up for her to see, "You can't even throw one of these things."

True.

A Viking suddenly ran by, snatching the bola from Hiccup's hand as he went. He swung it around once before launching it into the air; it wrapped around a dive-bombing Gronkle, rendering the creature's wings useless, and it fell, landing heavily on the ground.

Hiccup and Astrid stared at the scene a bit blankly for a moment before Hiccup shook his head a little, walking back over to the sharpening wheel, mumbling, "Go check on the guy you knocked out."

Astrid rolled her eyes before grabbing the medical box she had sat on the counter and running outside. She knelt by the man she had inadvertently knocked unconscious, lifting his head up slightly by cupping the back of his neck, checking for any visible head injuries.

This is the situation she was in; she was small and she was weak. She looked nothing like what the preconceived version of Vikings should look, but unlike her mother or Hiccup, she had no strength to make up for it. She was clumsy and had a definite case of bad luck; every time she tried to help, her clumsiness only made bad situations much worse. It was why she was told to stay inside all the time.

She had _some_ skills, though. She picked up on her mother's healing skills rather quickly, and Thora commented on how she would surpass her mother some time soon. Like all Viking women, she had to learn how to do housework. While she couldn't cook very well no matter how hard she tried, she could sow, weave, clean, mend.

But, it didn't make up for her lack of strength on the battlefield, something Vikings were much more interested in. It irked her so much; why couldn't she be like her mother? Her mother was even smaller than she was, but she could lift a hammer and swing an axe and throw a bola. She could cook and mend and weave and sow and clean, and she could take on any dragon that came her way.

Why couldn't Astrid do that?

Maybe Loki had cursed her.

Astrid glanced up from her work of wrapping the cut on the man's head in gauze, looking at the chaos of dragons and Vikings and fire around her.

_One day, I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here._

_Deadly Nadders are colorful, exotic. They're considered to be one of the most beautiful dragons in Viking history. You know, if you had a chance to admire it without it trying to impale you with its spikes. They would __**definitely**__ get you noticed around here._

_Gronkles are tough. They remind me of bumblebees, actually, the way their wings work. They're appearance kind of looks like bumblebees, too, and they're hard and rock-like. Taking down one of them would most likely increase my popularity._

_A Hideous Zippleback? They could also be considered exotic. They're like snakes; sneaky. Two heads, twice the status._

_And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those._

After a Zippleback used its gas and spark to blow one of the buildings to Hel, it connected its necks together before flying upward, right past Stoick just as he reached the top of one of the watchtowers.

"They found the sheep!"

"Concentrate over the lower bank!" Stoick bellowed before hopping to the lower floor. He helped push the large wheel into place, tightening the rope of the catapult before the men above hit the release lever, launching a large boulder toward a gaggle of dragons.

Stoick walked toward the ledge of the tower, his eyes searching for any enemies they could launch at before his face was suddenly illuminated by an unseen fire. He narrowed his eyes, looking down at the source of the fire, near the base of the tower, and he quickly readied his hammer.

_They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

Suddenly a large, red dragon burst through the flames, its entire body alight. It narrowed its slit-pupil, yellow eyes at Stoick before rearing its head up.

"Reload! I'll take care of this!"

Stoick dodged the Nightmare's teeth, and the Nightmare ducked its head to dodge his hammer. It was almost like they were taking turns in a game; Stoick jumped out of the way as the dragon snapped at him, while the dragon ducked its head to avoid the swing of his hammer.

_But there are plenty of other dragons around. Thousands. Hobblegrunts, Hotburples, Timberjacks, Mood Dragons. Too many to name._

Stoick and the Nightmare suddenly froze in mid-attack, the sound of a high-pitched whirl reaching their eardrums, echoing throughout the air. The Nightmare's eyes widened for a brief, barely discernible moment before it quickly flew away.

_But the ultimate prize is a dragon no one has ever seen._

Hiccup froze in his work of sharpening his axe, glancing upward as the whirring grew louder and louder.

Outside, Astrid and the nameless Viking she had knocked unconscious froze in place as she tried to help him sit up. Their eyes immediately went to the black sky, desperately seeking out the cause of the noise.

_We call it the-_

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Almost every Viking within hearing range immediately ducked under their shields, and a watchtower suddenly exploded in a purple-ish blue light before a wild fire consumed it.

It began falling apart, and Stoick immediately bellowed out an order. "Jump!" He shouted, and the men on the tower followed his lead, jumping from it as it quickly crumbled around them.

_This thing never steals food._

Hiccup, his axe still in hand, placed his hands on the window counter as he looked out, his eyes on the sky, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to seek out the invisible dragon.

_Never shows itself, and-_

The whirring resounded again before another watchtower exploded in a purple-blue light, a fire quickly consuming it as it began falling apart.

_Never misses._

Hiccup narrowed his eyes for a brief moment before he speedily began removing his smithy apron. He hung it up as he grabbed his fur vest, throwing it over his shoulders as he sprinted outside, axe in hand.

He stopped by Astrid just as the man she healed ran off, his own weapon held up, a war cry escaping as he sprinted right into the chaos.

"Astrid, I'm gonna go find Gobber," Hiccup said as she turned her attention to him, standing up herself, "See if he needs my help."

That was a lie. Really, he just wanted to see if he could get a glimpse of the Night Fury.

He made a move to run before he suddenly froze. He turned his attention back to Astrid, his eyes narrowed at her, "You stay _here._ Got it?"

"_Yes,_ I know," Astrid said irritantly. Hiccup stared at her for a brief moment before giving an annoyed smile and running off.

Astrid wasn't stupid; she knew what he was really trying to do. Number one, it was rare for Hiccup to leave the forge during a Raid. Number two, he ran in the complete opposite direction of the battle. She knew he just wanted to see the Night Fury himself.

She petulantly crossed her arms, glaring after him before turning her attention back to the battle. She wished she could fight; she wanted to be out there, too.

She began glancing around, seeing if there was anyone injured that she could help out before suddenly looking back at the forge. Her eyes caught sight of Hiccup's bola launcher through the window, still sitting quite innocently in the corner.

A glint appeared in her eyes and she quickly glanced around, making sure no one saw her before sprinting back into the forge.

_No one has ever killed a Night Fury before. If I become the first, I'd finally have my place in the tribe._

_So... I'm gonna try it._

Astrid burst through a group of Vikings, pushing Hiccup's wheeled contraption as best as she could; it was rather heavy.

"Astrid!" A large, dark blonde haired man bellowed after her, "Where're you goin'!? Get back here!"

"I know!" Astrid called back, not stopping her struggling pace, "Sorry, Dad! I'll be right back!"

_That's my dad, Cnut. He's one of the biggest and best warriors of our village, almost the Chief's right-hand-man. He's second only to Spitelout. Which is good. Very good. It gives our family status among the village._

Cnut sighed irritably as he watched his daughter run off with something that was more than likely one of Hiccup's weird inventions. He glanced to the side, something catching his eyes, and quickly sprinted toward it.

About three Nadders had cornered some sheep, and Stoick hurled a net over them, trapping them. Stoick and Cnut, along with a few other Vikings, quickly hopped over them, holding them down. One of them breathed fire, and Stoick dodged it, clamping the Nadder's mouth shut and holding it down.

"Mind yourselves!" He yelled as he struggled with it, "The devils still have some juice in them!"

On one of the cliff sides, Astrid pushed the bola launcher directly to the top before stopping. She looked at it for a moment, curling and uncurling her fingers. "Okay..." She whispered to herself, "How does this work?"

She bit her lip as she glanced around it, her brows furrowed in thought. Hesitantly, she grabbed the wooden top, opening it up. There was a metal contraption on the inside, and she slowly reached down, unsure, and pulled it up by the back.

It did nothing.

Sighing irritably, she grabbed the front half of the metal contraption, pulling it up as well, and she let out a startled sound when two wooden pieces suddenly jutted out. There was rope attached to the two pieces, and wrapped around two smaller pieces close to them.

She stopped for a moment when she realized that the rope was actually a bola, and she tilted her head as she looked at it. The way the wood jutted out reminded her of a crossbow.

Hesitantly, she grabbed to the smaller pieces, pulling them back. She watched as the rope tightened up before she heard a click, realizing that the smaller pieces had locked into place near the back of the machine.

She looked under it, trying to find whatever shot the bolas. She looked at the front handle for a moment before noticing the slots around it, realizing that it could be pushed downward, which would most likely launch the bolas.

Satisfied that she had figured it out, she hopped onto the foot stand, wrapping her hands around the front handle before turning her attention to the sky. She twisted the launcher left and right, trying to find the reclusive dragon. Her eyes widened when she saw a shadow blocking out the bright stars, and she quickly huddled down, looking through the eye-piece of the machine, following the shadow's movements as the signature whirring sound of the creature grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, the watchtower a little ways in front of her exploded in a purple-blue light, and she quickly pointed the launcher at the black shadow, illuminated by the orange flames.

She began to push down on the handle to launch just as a Nadder flew into her line of fire, squawking.

"No!" She gasped, but she had already pressed down on the handle, the force of the shot knocking her off the foot stand. She heard a loud thwack followed by a shriek of distress as she sat up, and her eyes widened as she watched the Nadder go down, the bright blue figure disappearing from sight into the forest.

She panted, the adrenaline calming as her face finally took on a look of realization.

"I hit a dragon," She murmured, "It wasn't a Night Fury, but it's still a dragon. I hit a dragon!"

She grinned excitedly, jumping up, her arms raised in a victory pose, "Yes! I hit it! Did anybody _see_ that!?"

The sound of crunching drew her attention, dimming her joy as she slowly turned, coming face to face with a snarling Monstrous Nightmare, its body sitting on top of the now destroyed bola launcher.

Her eyes widened, her face taking on an expression of fear.

"Except for you," She stuttered nervously, and the dragon reared its head back before letting out a vicious roar.

Stoick and Cnut glanced up to the cliffs, their eyes catching the sight of a large Monstrous Nightmare snapping at a familiar silhouette, her screams reaching their ears. Stoick sighed irritably, glancing over at Cnut.

"I'll get 'er..." Cnut sighed, standing and running toward his daughter.

Astrid's clumsiness saved her when she tripped, causing the fire thrown at her to miss. She quickly scrambled to her feet before sprinting behind the last standing brazier, her chest quickly rising and falling, her expression one of pure panic. She huddled in on herself, covering her eyes with her hands when fire was shot at the post she was huddled behind, the flames illuminating her. When the sound stopped, she hesitantly looked up, looking around the pole, not noticing the Nightmare was looking at her from the opposite side. It opened its mouth to fire, but was pushed to the side by a kick from Cnut.

The Nightmare shook its head irritably before it tried to fire at him, but only a small spurt came out before cutting off. It tried again, only succeeding in releasing a few embers.

"You're all out," Cnut muttered before giving the dragon a few swift, strong punches, and the creature irritantly shook its head before flying off.

Cnut looked back at the smoldering pole as it finally burned through, collapsing, revealing Astrid on the other side. The giant torch the pole was holding came off, rolling through the village, and Astrid winced at every shout and crash she heard.

"Sorry, Dad..." Astrid muttered.

The torch forced the Vikings that were holding down the Deadly Nadders to move aside or get burned, freeing them, and they immediately flew off, carrying the sheep with them.

_Oh, and there's __**probably**__ one more thing you should know._

Astrid glanced around, catching sight of most of the villagers staring at her. She immediately took notice of Gobber, Stoick, Hiccup, and her mother and father as the ones most easily recognized.

Hiccup, his axe resting on his shoulder, glanced up at Stoick, his eyes turning a bit irritated when he caught sight of his glare.

He sighed. "Take it easy, Dad."

_Hiccup, that guy I was praising... he just __**might**__ be their heir to our tribe._

Astrid cleared her throat nervously before speaking in a speedy voice, "Okay, but I hit a Deadly Nadder."

Cnut swiftly grabbed her by the back of her wrappings, hauling her away as Thora, Hiccup, and Stoick followed close behind.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad, I mean I really hit it! You guys were busy and I had a clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point! We can get a search party and-"

"Stop!" Stoick bellowed, cutting off Astrid's rant. Cnut unconsciously slackened his grip as he looked back at their Chief hesitantly, and Astrid quickly stepped out of his loose grip before looking up at Stoick with a similar hesitance.

"Just stop..." Stoick sighed, "Every time you step outside _disaster_ follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire_ village_ to feed!"

"Well, between you and me," Hiccup said, giving his father a rather smartass smile, "The village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

Behind him, a few round Vikings stirred self-consciously, placing their hands on their beer bellies.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick scolded furiously before looking back at Astrid, "Why can't you just follow the _simplest_ of orders?"

"I can't stop myself, Chief!" Astrid said, "I see a dragon and I just have to... kill it, you know? It's who I am!"

"You are many things, Astrid, but a dragon killer isn't one of them."

Astrid shifted a little before looking toward her parents. Thora and Cnut gave Stoick an irritant glance, though he didn't notice, before looking back at her with supportive smiles. Cnut placed his large hand on her small shoulder, speaking in a gentle tone, "Get back to the house, Astrid. Aye?"

"Okay," Astrid mumbled, lowering her disappointed eyes.

Stoick glanced at Hiccup, rolling his eyes when the boy threw him another one of _those_ smiles. "Make sure she gets there," He ordered as he brushed past him, "I have her mess to clean up."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, giving his father a mocking look behind the man's back. It got him a slap on the back of the head from Gobber, but Hiccup ignored it, walking over to Astrid and leading her toward her house from behind. Gobber, in what appeared to be an afterthought, followed.

They past the Fire Brigade along the way, and Astrid rolled her eyes when their mocking words reached her ears.

"Quite the performance," Tuffnut smirked.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly," Snotlout added. Oh, so it was one of his mocking days as opposed to his flirting days. Goody. "That really helped."

Hiccup, irritated, roughly placed his hand on Snotlout's head, pushing his helmet into his face, ignoring his cry of "ow!" and shoved him to the ground.

Just as Snotlout stood back up, adjusting his helmet, Gobber pushed him down again.

"It took me forever to make that thing, you know," Hiccup said a bit flippantly.

"I'm sorry," Astrid muttered.

They walked in silence, stopping at the front door of her house. Astrid placed her hand on the handle before she suddenly whirled around to face Hiccup and Gobber.

"Your dad never listens," She snapped.

"Yeah, I know," Hiccup said, his tone irritated, before he mumbled, "Believe me, I know."

"Well, it runs in the family," Gobber shrugged, and Hiccup shot him a look.

"And when he does listen, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped all the meat on his sandwich," Astrid continued.

"Yeah? Well try _living_ with it," Hiccup muttered before he suddenly began mimicking Stoick's accent and movements, "'Excuse me, barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side. This here, this is a talkin' fish bone'."

Astrid gave him a sympathetic look.

_That's the thing about Vikings. They don't take too well to people who are... __**different**__. If you don't fit into their criteria of what a Viking should be, then you don't fit in at all. Sure, Hiccup's good with an axe, but all his father sees is the strange things Hiccup says, or his weird inventions, or how small he is. He doesn't see Hiccup... and that was a shame._

"Now, now," Gobber cut in, "You're thinkin' about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's on the inside he can't stand."

Astrid and Hiccup gave him a blank look before Hiccup rolled his eyes a little, used to the less than helpful words Gobber spouted out in an attempt to comfort others.

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup gave him a fake smile.

"Look, the point is stop tryin' to be somethin' that you're not."

Hiccup sighed heavily before looking back at Astrid.

"I really did hit one," She mumbled.

"Sure, Astrid," Gobber nodded indulgently, and Hiccup shot him another look.

"I just wanna be one of you guys," Astrid murmured.

"I know, Astrid," Hiccup murmured back as Gobber eyed her sympathetically. She glanced up at them for a moment before she went inside. She quickly ducked, looking out her window, watching Gobber walk back toward the village while Hiccup walked toward his own home.

The Chief's house, while not the highest house in the village _(that one belonged to Elder Gothi)_, did overlook the whole village. It sat atop a hill, a little ways away from the Great Hall. She would have to be careful, because it was also the house closest to the forest.

She waited a few more moments before quickly slipping out her back door.

* * *

**Like I said, this chapter was very similar to the original, but those who have read the original probably already see what I meant when I said I wanted to better detail it.**

**To those who have read the original version, Hiccup's meeting with Toothless is meant to come earlier in this one, and they're actually going to spend time together before facing the Red Death.**

**1) **_**Longhouse**__ - a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America._

**2) **_Because Spitelout has a different last name than Stoick, I assume he was Valka's brother, or brother-in-law, and not a member of Stoick's family._

**3) **_Hiccup's flying suit from the second movie._

**4) **_As I'm sure you've already figured out, it's the bola launcher, which Hiccup named __**The Mangler**__._

**5) **_Canon Astrid's axe._

**Okay, there's chapter one :)**

**I'm not sure how long my chapters will normally be, though I do know that the rest will most likely not be as long as this one.**

**And, as a message to my older readers who know of my situation, I am happy to say I'm finally out of the hospital. I'm going to be in a wheelchair for a while, though; it's got one of those stands on it to prop my leg up. It's pretty uncomfortable. Luckily, though, my doctor said I'm allowed to do non-straining things, so, as a 'happy you're better' present, my dad is actually taking me to see the new Godzilla movie tomorrow. It's gonna be great :)**

**Though, I will have to sit in the aisle because of my wheelchair, but whatever, I've been dying to see this movie.**


	2. First Glimpse

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**There isn't a lot of dialog in this chapter; this one is meant to brush up a little on Hiccup's past and his relationship with his father. **

* * *

"Either_ we_ finish them, or they finish _us._" Stoick said, slamming his knife into the map in front of him; the blade went straight through an illustration of a dragon on the corner of it.

Gobber held back a snort at Stoick's words, shuffling the cup of mead he was using as a false hand at the moment, playing with his iron tooth with his real one. He wasn't sure if Stoick's words were true or not; the dragons only raided once a week, it seemed. It gave them plenty of time to load up their food storage, a place the dragons sniffed out but never reached due to the battles that occurred every Raid.

But, whatever. He's Chief; he can spout out whatever bull he wants.

"It's the only way we'll get rid of them. If we break the Nest, they'll leave. They'll find a new home! One more search before the ice sets."

"But, Chief," a voice in the back called out, "Those ships never come back."

And he had a point, Gobber thought, they never even got close to_ finding_ the Nest, but they did manage to find dragons. Said dragons always razed those ships to the bottom of the ocean.

"We're Vikings! It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?"

Occupational hazard... Gobber actually did snort that time; he'd have to let Hiccup in on that one at some point.

The Vikings shuffled their feet, wrung their hands, and kept their eyes away from Stoick's. Gobber rolled his eyes; bunch of sissies...

"Alright," Cnut said, "Whoever stays will look after Astrid."

All the hands in the room raised, their voices shouting their enthusiasm. Gobber glanced around in surprise. Maybe this is the reason Hiccup's seems a bit protective of the girl's enthusiasm to help out; no one seemed to be very appreciative, despite the fact that the girl treated their wounded and healed their sick.

Ah... at least she had Hiccup on her side. Somewhat.

"Thought so," Cnut smirked.

As the Vikings in the war meeting dispersed, Stoick, as well as Thora and Cnut, made their way over to him. Gobber reattached his iron tooth, taking a sip of his mead. "I'll pack my undies then," He said, standing from his bench.

"No," Stoick said, "I need you to train some recruits."

"Oh, perfect," Gobber said, his voice enthusiastic, "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the forge. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself. What could go wrong?"

Really, nothing was going to happen; the boy was an even better smithy than Gobber would like to admit. But, leaving him alone in the forge would give him plenty of time to work on those inventions of his, and Stoick wouldn't want that.

Stoick didn't like the boy inventing anything; it was too much like Val.

Stoick, as predicted, sighed heavily, "What am I going to do with him, Gobber?"

"I don't see much you need to do, Stoick," Thora said, leaning against the large table, "The boy's a master with an axe and a genius in the forge."

And ain't that the truth, Gobber thought. But, he knew Stoick wouldn't have it; the man seemed to never notice Hiccup's skills, fighting or otherwise. Gobber couldn't really blame the man _too_ much; he was too blinded by the boy's similarities to his mother.

Then again, it also made Gobber want to throttle his friend.

Hiccup really was a male copy of Val. He had his mother's hair, though he had a tint of red from Stoick. He had his mother's skin, her slight build, and, though he had his father's eye color, the gleam in them was purely Val's.

He talked like her, too. Gobber remembers when Val was still around, she was always coming up with crazy schemes and saying the oddest of things. It was one of the traits that made Stoick fall in love with her, Gobber was sure, and he remembers that Stoick once found those traits in Hiccup endearing.

But then Val disappeared, and Stoick couldn't even look his son in the eyes anymore.

"You could put him in training with the rest of the kids," Cnut suggested, "That's what we're doing with Astrid."

Gobber glanced at him in surprise; Cnut was as protective of a father as they come, and letting his daughter, a girl who couldn't even work with a shield, into training didn't seem like something he would do. He glanced at Thora, knowing that she was most likely the one behind the decision.

"_Astrid?_" Stoick asked, his tone incredulous.

"Yes, _Astrid,_" Thora smiled pleasantly, but Gobber, along with the two other men, backed up slightly; it was easy to hear the dangerous undertone in her voice. That woman frightened him beyond belief, and he was sure she frightened over half the village as well.

Astrid was lucky, Gobber thought, because no one messed with her; they were much too frightened by her ninety pound mother.

"She needs to learn how to defend herself," Thora continued, "It's not always going to be close calls, Stoick. There's going to be a time when we're not going to be able to get to her to help her, and I want to make sure she can take care of herself when that day comes."

"Of course," Stoick cleared his throat, still a bit nervous by the glint in Thora's eyes, "But Hiccup-"

"Will be fine," Gobber interrupted, "Like Thora said, the boy's handy with an axe. Even made it himself."

Gobber remembers a time before that axe came about; Hiccup had been just like Astrid. The boy was small and weak, and he could barely lift a toy sword, let alone a real one. He was clumsy and he had no skills to speak of, and he always caused more harm than good when he tried to help, but Hiccup had been happy with the way things were; he had a warmth in his eyes, and Gobber had been so positive it would never leave them.

But it did.

He didn't know what happened; he probably never would, as every time he asked Hiccup about it, the boy would shut him out. One day, Hiccup had just disappeared in the middle of the afternoon; he didn't return until the next day. Stoick had been sick with worry, though the man would never admit it, and his worry had caused him to keep Hiccup in the house for the rest of the week.

Stoick might not have noticed it, but Gobber did; that warmth in the boy's eyes was gone, and the lad began to shut everyone out. When his punishment was up, he immediately ran into the forge and began working; he didn't stop until that axe was made, and it wasn't finished until it looked absolutely perfect in the boy's eyes. The child could barely lift it at the time, and he had to drag it around. He kept disappearing into the woods, and each time he would return with just a bit more skill and strength.

After a while, the boy could throw and swing the axe like a veteran warrior, and it amazed those who knew him and knew of him; those who had been so used to the clumsy, yet cheerful boy that had no physical strength to speak of.

But Stoick never noticed, and Gobber quickly became frustrated with the man.

Hiccup's similarities to Val had continued to blind Stoick to his boy's skills, and Hiccup became just a little colder each day. The boy began picking up on his father's temper, and, this time, he actually had the skills to back it up.

All of Hiccup's old bullies learned the hard way not to pick a fight with the 'new and improved' Hiccup; the boy began retaliating to all the insults and the snide looks, something he used to ignore, and Gobber became positive that the boy was trying to win over his father's respect and affections and that his frustration had simply reached its breaking point.

The only time Gobber remembered wanting to clap his friend across the face so much had been when they went out searching for Hamish's treasure and ended up having to huddle together in the mountains just to stay warm.

"I can't do that," Stoick muttered, "He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out into the ring."

Gobber held back snort; Stoick was still looking at Hiccup as if he were still that weak boy who let others walk all over him. "No, actually that's the situation Astrid'll be in," Gobber said flippantly, and he ignored the looks Cnut and Thora sent his way. "He'll be fine. You don't know he'd be killed." If anything, the boy would most likely be at the top of the class; maybe Stoick would finally notice the boy if that happened.

"I _do_ know that."

"No, actually, you _don't_ know that."

"Actually, I do."

"No, you _don't._"

"_Yes_, I do!"

"_No_, you _don't!_"

Thora and Cnut exchanged a quick glance, amused by their childish argument. Unsurprisingly, these arguments happened quite often.

"You know what he's like," Stoick snapped, "From the time he could crawl, he's been... _different._ He doesn't listen, he has the attention span of a sparrow, he talks about _flying_ of all things... I take him fishing, and he goes hunting for... for _trolls!_"

The boy was a big dreamer, Gobber thought. Hiccup had told him about flying, even showed him the designs for a strange suit, though Hiccup said it needed a lot more work before it was actually ready. The boy wanted to fly, wanted to see the world from a dragon's eyes; said that the beasts probably see some pretty amazing things, and Gobber had to agree with him on that one. Hiccup wanted to touch the clouds, soar through the sky, and see what the world outside of Berk was like.

It was a big dream, but Gobber knew the boy would make it happen one way or another.

"Trolls exist," Gobber defended him, "They steal yer socks!" His tone darkened a bit, "But only the left ones... what's with that?"

Stoick gazed at a tapestry depicted a Viking cutting off the head of a struggling dragon, "When I was a boy..."

"Oh, here we go," Gobber muttered. He's heard this story thousands of time; Stoick tells it every time Hiccup ignores one of his orders.

"My father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it. I thought he was crazy, but I didn't question him!"

"Ah, so you're upset Hiccup ignored a lunatic request like that?" Thora muttered, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. Stoick shot her a look, but he continued, and Gobber discreetly nodded to her in answering behind Stoick's back.

"And you know what happened?"

"You gotta headache?" Cnut lifted a brow; surely Stoick wouldn't expect one as smart as Hiccup to follow along with this request. Then again, this was Stoick.

"_The rock split in two,_" Stoick ignored him, "It taught me what a Viking can do, Gobber! He can crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!"

"I doubt humans could do such things," Thora mumbled; only the gods could do things such as that. To believe a human could have such power is a little ludicrous.

Stoick looked back at Gobber, "I was only a boy and, yet, I knew who I was and what I had to become." His tone turned to one of disappointment, "Hiccup is not that boy."

Gobber, once again, wanted to thrash his friend.

Hiccup didn't know who he was; he never told him such a thing, but Gobber could see it in the boy's eyes. He was still trying to discover himself, discover what he's to become; Stoick expected his son to be this all powerful Viking that would one day take over the chiefdom, but Hiccup and his big dreams didn't deserve to be tied down in such a way. He deserved to fly and search the world before he took his father's place.

"You can't stop him, Stoick," Cnut said, and Gobber couldn't agree with him more, "Just like we can't stop Astrid." That was true. The girl was a bit competitive; had to be the best despite her lack of skill. "We can only prepare them. That's _why_ we're putting her in Dragon Training; so she can defend herself should the day we can no longer protect her comes. It's all we can do. Hiccup's going to get out there again." He sure will; the boy was pretty good at sneaking around. "_Astrid's_ going to get out there again." That she will; the girl was a bit hard-headed. "Hel, she's probably put there right now..."

Hiccup was probably out there right now, too, now that Gobber thinks about it.

* * *

"Oh, the gods hate me," Astrid moaned, running a hand through her hair, avoiding her _kransen_ so as to not jar it. She hiked through the forest, looking left and right, frowning, "Some people lose their knife or their mug. Not me. No, I lose an entire _dragon!_" **[1]**

In her irritation, she swiped at a low hanging branch, which promptly swung back and slapped her right in the face. She yelped, clutching at her cheek. Gods, she really did have bad luck, didn't she. She glared at the offending branch before her eyes widened, seeing why it was hanging so low in the first place.

The tree it was attached to looked as if it had been snapped in two; so had quite a few other trees. The row of broken trees formed a path that went straight down, and then slanted up, and disappeared right over a hill.

It was a crash sight, and she had a pretty good idea of what caused it.

She walked over to the hill, which was so steep that she almost had to use her hands to pull herself up. She raised her head over the hill, and then ducked down with a gasp, her heart pounding triple time.

A large, light blue, spiked dragon was entangled in bolas, its wings tied down to its body.

Astrid cautiously peered over the hill again before pulling out a small dagger strapped to her skull belt, hidden from view between her plaited skirt and her fabric skirt; Hiccup had made it for her when it became obvious she wouldn't be able to lift anything else.

She walked in front of the dragon, examining it.

The Deadly Nadder was different than the ones she was used to. Usually, they were dark blues, and greens, and purples, with their bright yellow spikes standing out. This one was the color of the day sky, with pinks and purples and yellows and oranges swirling around and dotting its body. Its underbelly was lighter than the rest of it as well, a shade of white-ish yellow, or maybe a light beige, and its spikes were an outstanding shade of yellow.

It was beautiful. The most beautiful she's ever seen.

Astrid let out a startled yelp when the dragon released a groan, shifting awkwardly. It was still alive. Astrid hesitantly held up her dagger, tiptoeing forward, much less sure of herself than when she shot it down. She gulped when she looked at its face.

Its yellow, slit-pupil eyes were open, staring up at her with emotion, something she had been taught that dragons never had.

She nervously shifted the dagger so that it was facing downwards, holding it in both hands. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon," She whispered, "I'm a Viking."

Suddenly, she felt angry with herself; if she kept shaking and stuttering, she'd never live up to Viking standards.

"I'm a Viking!" She yelled, taking her anger out on the beast, and lifted her dagger over her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

Slowly, she opened them, catching the dragon's eye.

It was still staring.

Suddenly, she felt... _ashamed._ Like she did this great wrong that needed to be atoned. But, it was just a dragon; dragons don't... they _can't_ feel.

But, then why did it look so scared?

The dragon's eyes never left hers, and she hung her head, letting her hands fall, squeezing the dagger tighter. "I did this," She whispered, keeping her eyes on the dragon's. She backed up a few steps before looking behind her at the forest, and, before she fully caught up with what she was doing, she was on her knees, slicing the ropes of the bolas.

The moment the ropes fell slack, the Nadder leaped up, using its foot to pin her to the ground, its yellow eyes glaring down at her. The eyes that were once fearful were now filled with rage, and the roles were reversed, with her looking up at it in fear. Astrid felt her heart beating in a way that made her fear it would jump up to her throat and straight out of her mouth.

It bared its teeth, growling furiously, and it reared its head back, spreading its winged forelimbs. Astrid braced herself and squeezed her eyes shut, practically hyperventilating, preparing for the worst.

Suddenly, the weight of its foot left her chest, and she opened her eyes in confusion. The Nadder was running off, flapping its wings awkwardly. It let out a frustrated squawk as it crashed haphazardly through the forest before it finally disappeared from view.

Astrid's breaths began to calm slightly as the adrenaline wore off, and she slumped back against the rock she had been previously pinned to. She shakily grabbed at her dagger, missing a few times in her frightened state, before standing.

The moment finally caught up with her, and she took two steps back toward the village before fainting dead away.

* * *

Hiccup sighed in frustration, using his axe to brush aside branches and bushes as he trekked through the forest. Astrid really did have bad luck, didn't she? After all, he wouldn't have noticed her running off into the woods had he not just happen to glance toward his open window for a brief moment, seeing her run past.

He had decided to look for her; Odin knows what kind of crap she'd get herself into out here.

Hearing a rustle, he looked to the left, only seeing a couple of Terrible Terrors scurry across the ground and into a tree. He watched them for a moment, hearing that odd rattle noise they made and seeing them flick their tongues over their eyes in a manner eerily similar to a gecko before they disappeared higher up the tree. He licked his lips a little before looking around again.

There were wild dragons _everywhere_, not just at the Nest; he learned that just a few days after claiming the forest as his own. He was usually the only one to go in here, and it gave him plenty of time to himself.

Plenty of time to watch the dragons.

He glanced down, catching sight of a Mood Dragon curled up under a bush. Mood Dragons were considered to be as beautiful as Nadders; they get their name from changing colors depending on the mood they're in, and they're not particularly vicious unless angered. **[2]**

This one was currently a deep blue, which means it's pretty calm at the moment.

Its head was resting on its folded arms, but he could see its eyes looking up at him cautiously. Hiccup looked at it for a moment, tilting his head slightly, and the dragon copied his movement, its scales fading into a lighter blue; it was curious now.

One of its ear-plates flicked, and Hiccup snorted a little at the sight. It lifted its head to better look at him, and he gave a small wave before continuing on.

He liked to watch the dragons; watching the wild dragons walk around the forest has almost become a hobby for him now. His interest in them was one of the reasons he preferred to stay in the forge rather than join the Raids.

He couldn't help it, really. He's a curious person, and it was only natural for him to want to learn things about the beings he knew nothing about. Dragons, he sees, are powerful, amazing creatures, and he wants to learn everything there is to know about them. He observes them, from the forge during the Raids, from the woods he's walking through now, and sometimes he even heads to the cliff side to watch the water dragons swim under the ocean.

He heard a call, and he looked up, his face slackening in awe. Far above him, a bit difficult to see through the trees, a four-winged dragon glided through the sky.

It was a Stormcutter; these dragons were never seen during the Raids, but people _have_ seen them before, otherwise they wouldn't be in the Dragon Manual. Hiccup thought they were pretty amazing, with their many fins making them look intimidating and large, and their four wings that appeared as an 'X' during flight. He watched it as it flew off, letting out another call before it disappeared from his sight. **[3]**

He stared for a moment, his face a bit blank. While he thought Stormcutters were amazing dragons, he wasn't sure what to feel about them personally. He couldn't blame the entire species, he knew that, but it was a Stormcutter that took off with his mother that night.

He sighed through his nose at the thought, clenching his jaw. He wished she were still here; he knew she would be the one to beat some sense into his father, make him see Hiccup for who he was.

Hiccup pursed his lips; he can understand him and Stoick drifting apart a little bit after her disappearance, but what he didn't understand was his father's complete ignorance of his presence.

He thought it was because of his name. It was Viking tradition to name the runt of the litter Hiccup, and he had been born small; too small for a Viking's taste. He remembers that he used to get sick a lot; his body was too small and too weak to fight off the illnesses for him. He remembers he used to be physically weak, even weaker than Astrid; he couldn't lift a hammer or swing an axe or throw a bola _(he still can't throw a bola, actually)_, and he even had trouble with the toy weapons his father had Gobber make for him.

Nobody wanted the hiccups. And, really, why would they? They were these sharp, painful, involuntary intakes of air that made it hard to breath and they wouldn't stop until your chest ached unbearably. He supposes he should be thankful; the Hairy Hooligans were one of the few tribes that didn't practice any violent traditions involving the Hiccups. There were plenty of superstitious tribes out there that were so fearful that Hiccups were a sign of bad luck that they would send the children out to sea in a basket and let nature do the rest. And he knew the Berserkers practiced much bloodier traditions involving the Hiccups, even under Oswald the Agreeable. Hiccup shuddered; the way that man looked at him sometimes... some of his glances were even worse than the ones his lunatic kid sent his way.

It was a bit cruel for Hiccup's taste; sending the children out to sea wouldn't give them a proper funeral, and they would be trapped in Niflheim rather than ascend to Valhalla.

But, his mother loved him, and he remembers that his father did, too. His father used to be indulging and he would listen to Hiccup's ideas rather than scold him and tell him to hush up.

But then his mother was gone, and their relationship crumbled.

He understands his father shutting down a little after his mother's disappearance, but that didn't excuse all the one-sided conversations, all the disappointed stares, or the ignorance of his own son.

He used to be okay with it; he used to not mind all the one-sided conversations because his father was at least talking to him. He didn't mind the day his father got so frustrated with his clumsiness that he passed him off to Gobber at the forge because he was learning how to do something other than break stuff. He used to just let people walk all over him, bully him, glare at him; he used to just ignore it and play it off with one of his sarcastic remarks.

But then things changed.

He supposes he should thank Snotlout; if it hadn't been for his cousin's words that day then he wouldn't have the fighting skills he does now.

He had been with the other kids his age, Astrid included, and he remembers that he had tripped and fell down. Snotlout had laughed at him, and then he said something that still made Hiccup's blood boil whenever he thought about it.

'Hiccup the Useless', that little urchin had called him.

Useless.

Hiccup sucked in a sharp breath through his nose at the thought, shaking his head a little as he continued through the forest. He knew he didn't have a lot of fighting skills, but he was good at the forge and he came up with working ideas; he wasn't _useless_.

He remembers freezing at the comment for a moment before he took off into the woods that afternoon. He didn't stop to think; just wanted to get away from the ridicule. But, when he did find a spot to settle in, he did think about it.

He couldn't lift a shield properly, he could barely lift a hammer to work the metal in the forge, he constantly dropped his toy weapons, he couldn't keep up with the other kids, he even used his left hand. **[4]**

He_ was_ useless.

He remembers snapping at the thought, and his bottled up frustration and anger got the best of him. When he snapped, he had thrown rocks and sticks, kicked at trees and dirt, scaring off every wild dragon and animal within the vicinity. During his little episode, he had slipped down a small dirt hill, slicing open his hand in the process, leaving a nice scar on the palm. The pain is what snapped him out of it, and he calmed a little, realizing that it was already dark out. But, instead of heading home, he had stewed in the forest for the rest of the night, thinking about how to become useful instead of useless, and he didn't return until the next morning.

His father had been upset, not letting him leave the house for at least a week. But, it was okay because it gave him plenty of time to work out his plans. He had designed his axe during his punishment and when it was up, he immediately began working on it in the forge. He could barely lift the axe back then, having to drag it across the floor. He would go into the woods to practice; he trained until he could lift the axe, and then he trained until he could use the axe. His hands were always bloody from his constant training, and now they were covered in scars and calluses, but it was worth it because now he was better with his axe than most of the warriors in the village.

People started to notice, too. The little hiccup finally had some skills; suddenly, he was no longer 'Hiccup the Useless,' he was 'Hiccup, Hope and Heir of the Hairy Hooligans.' It did nothing but make him angry. He sharpened and forged their weapons, made sure they were protected during their battles, but that deserved no appreciation? The only thing about him that could be appreciated were his skills with an axe?

He began giving the villagers the cold shoulder; the only people he talked to were his cousin, the twins, Fishlegs, Astrid, and Gobber. They were his friends long before he obtained his skills, so they were the ones he stayed with. He began picking up on Stoick's temper, retaliating to all the snide comments, the glares, and the laughter.

They quickly learned that he was no longer the useless boy that would take the bull they spout out about him. They began to respect his ability to retaliate too much to keep saying negative things to him; the only ones who were still brave enough to mess with him were his cousin and the twins. Snotlout kept up because it was a part of the cousins' daily routine, though Hiccup did smack him around a few times. The twins were constantly at it because they loved the mean jokes, and they actually had fun getting thwacked a few times.

And yet, his father never noticed his improvements.

Maybe it was because his mother wasn't here; maybe Valka's disappearance had caused his father too much grief. He didn't know; he just wanted_ some_ kind of attention from his only remaining family.

He constantly trained and worked at the forge, doing everything he could to earn his father's attention, but nothing seemed to work. Stoick still saw him as the tiny little hiccup that couldn't stand up for himself.

It got so frustrating. Recently, he's been begging Stoick to allow him into Dragon Training with the others in hopes that succeeding in the class will catch his father's attention. But, Stoick wouldn't have it; said he wouldn't be able to keep up with the others.

That was complete crap; if anything, they'd have a hard time keeping up with _him_.

Hiccup glanced around, realizing his thoughts had gotten completely off track; he was supposed to be looking for Astrid. So far, he's looked through all his usual spots, but hasn't seen any sign of her, and he was beginning to get a little worried.

He often wondered why he felt the need to protect her, and he began thinking that it may have something to do with his old self. He used to be just like her, wanting to help but being unable to. He used to have bullies and he used to be ignored. He didn't want people to feel useless like he did, so he decided to be a friend to her; luckily for him, Ruffnut seems to have taken on that role as well.

He noticed things about her that he was sure no one else did; like how she was a bit competitive and had to be the _best_ despite her lack of skill, or how she constantly practiced her healing skills in an attempt to be just as good as Gramma Gothi. He noticed how determined she was, and he found her lack of cooking skills a bit funny.

He noticed many things about, and he was a little unsure as to _why_ he constantly noticed her.

Hiccup glanced down for a brief moment, catching sight of something shining. Kneeling down, he picked it up and examined it. It was a… scale. Pure black on one side, and midnight blue on the other. The black side felt soft and leathery, while the blue side felt hard and smooth, and the blue side shined in the little sunlight that peaked through the trees.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he glanced around, and his breath hitched, catching sight of what was obviously the owner of the scales.

He slowly stood, staring at it cautiously, moving the hand holding the axe up a bit so he could grab onto it with both hands, tightening his grip.

A little ways in front of him was a black dragon, its eyes closed, its wings folded around it, hanging from a tree branch with its tail like a bat. Hiccup could tell that it was sleeping, but it wasn't snoring, fidgeting, growling, or moving; it was practically _dead_, the way it slept.

Curiosity getting the better of him _(his curiosity was going to get him killed one day, he knew it)_, he cautiously approached it. He did his best to avoid any noisy grass, twigs, and leaves as he slowly made his way closer to it.

It didn't stir at all; it was a little creepy, actually, how still it was.

When he was close enough, he hesitantly lifted a hand and touched it. Its scales were soft; they felt a bit like the leather armor some of the Vikings asked for at the forge, feeling exactly the same as the small scale still in his hand, held against the handle of his axe. Upon closer inspection, he could see some small, fleshy looking patches where the scales were missing. His touch didn't stir it, either, and he hesitated for a moment before gently pushing it to one side, wondering if that would rouse the creature.

It didn't. Instead, it just swung from side to side like a giant black pendulum until it slowly settled back into its still position, having not moved a single muscle. Its eyelids didn't even twitch.

Hiccup watched it as it swayed before it settled, his thoughts wandering. He's never heard of a black dragon before, and he had a feeling he knew what this dragon was. It was a bit disconcerting, having _the_ most feared dragon in the archipelago sleeping so peacefully right in front of him.

But, hey, he finally got to see what the Night Fury looked like, something he's been dreaming about since the day he heard of it.

He released a quiet sigh, keeping his eyes on it cautiously as he began to back up. But, by not watching his feet, he ended up stepping on a twig.

There was a quiet snap, and two green eyes shot open. There was a few quick thuds, a ruffle of wings, and a low, rumbling growl. Within a few seconds, two massive claws were pinning down each eagle-spread arm, and there was a mouth full of snarling, ivory teeth hovering above him.

Two acid green cat eyes eyed him dangerously, and Hiccup tightened his grip on his axe. There wasn't much he could do with it; both his arms were pinned down, one hand still hanging onto his axe, but unable to use it.

He sucked in a few panicked breaths, staring the dragon in the eyes. It tilted its head in a manner similar to the Mood Dragon before lowering it a little, its breath ruffling his hair.

Suddenly, though he was unsure why, he felt calmer. He didn't feel scared anymore, just curious as he stared up at the beast. It seemed to notice the change in him, and its slit eyes dilated, but only slightly, still appearing dangerous, but less threatening than before as it closed its lips, hiding its teeth from view.

They held each other's eyes for what felt like hours, never once breaking contact.

It cautiously removed its claws from his arms, but Hiccup knew better than to actually move. They continued staring at one another before it slowly reared its head back, spreading its wings. It suddenly slammed its feet down next to his head, letting out a screeching roar right in his face, the force blowing his hair aside.

And then it twisted around and slithered off, and Hiccup was too rattled to wonder why it didn't just fly away.

* * *

**And there's Toothless and Stormfly :)**

**This chapter was meant to give some details on Stoick and Hiccup's relationship; why it's just as damaged as it was in canon despite Hiccup's skills. It was also meant to brush up a little on Hiccup's past; how he obtained those skills despite being so similar to his canon self, so... yeah.**

**And it looks like I was wrong about my chapter lengths; this one's pretty long, too.**

**1) **_A **kransen** was worn only by unmarried girls, and it was a symbol of their purity. Unmarried girls would wear their hair long and loose, or they might confine their hair with a circlet or **kransen**, especially on formal occasions. At times they may have worn their hair in braids instead. The headband Astrid wears is formal enough to be considered a **kransen**._

**2) **_A Mood Dragon is a dragon from the book series. As I mentioned before, I'm getting all my information on the dragons from the httyd wiki, but they only mention a few colors of the Mood Dragon and their meaning, so some of the colors are made up and not official._

**3) **_A Stormcutter is what Valka's dragon Cloudjumper is. Their wings can slick together so they appear as only one set instead of two; they are large with many fins, and they have owl-like mannerisms. The wild Stormcutter was only there in order for Hiccup to be reminded of his mother so there could be a way for me to delve into his past a little._

**4) **_Vikings were very particular in how they fought; the weapons _must_ be held by the right hand, and the shields _must_ be held by the left hand. Those who were dominantly left-handed were considered unusual and bad luck; they called left-handed people **Vinstris**, which is basically the Old Norse root word for "left", and most referred to the left hand as **Loki**'s hand. It is one of the main reasons that many Vikings used their right hands for their weapons, even if they were dominantly left-handed._

**Okay, next is the Dragon Training. Sorry about the lack of dialog in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway :)**

**And sorry about the wait, but I don't normally update on weekends, so...**


	3. Training Day

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**The events in this chapter are mostly canon. Like I said in the author's note, I am going to be sticking to the plot of the movie, as well as use some scenes from canon, so...**

**This chapter is also meant to be a bit of a comic relief compared to the seriousness of the previous chapters, so... enjoy. :)**

* * *

When Astrid finally made it back home, it was already dark out. Actually, it was dark when she woke up, meaning that she had been unconscious for a while; it was kind of embarrassing, actually, fainting like that.

She sighed as she opened her front door, quietly walking inside and closing it, not wanting to disturb her parents, who were most likely packing for the voyage to the Nest.

She had been doing some thinking as she trekked back home through the forest. That Deadly Nadder had been terrified of her, despite the fact that she was just a small girl with an even smaller dagger. Sure, it had been entangled, but with its spikes it could have easily freed itself. Maybe it was rattled or hurt from the fall; she didn't really know. She was just concerned about why the dragon had been scared. Of _her._

She wasn't sure if she could kill something that looked so scared. She wasn't sure if she could participate in the Raids; she would just keep seeing those bright yellow eyes staring up at her with pure fear.

She couldn't kill a dragon.

"Astrid."

Astrid let out a startled sound, jumping a bit. She had just been standing in the middle of the main room, staring at the wall in her thoughts. She hadn't realized her parents had come in.

She looked at her mother, the one who had called her name. "Yes?"

"Astrid," Her mother repeated, an odd look in her eyes, "We've placed you in Dragon Training with the others."

Astrid's breath hitched, her eyes widening a little. Oh, _now_ they decide to indulge in her wishes? _Right_ after she changed her mind? "Really?" She stuttered, "Because I was thinking that I could keep working in the healer's hut with you, Mom, so..."

"And you can," Thora answered patiently, "But you still need to learn to defend yourself."

"Well, Mom, I..." Could she really tell them? They _were_ much more understanding than the other Vikings. "I don't want to kill dragons."

"You don't have to kill dragons," Cnut said indulgently, though his brows her furrowed in confusion as he gave Thora a brief glance, "But you still need to learn to protect yourself. We're not always going to be there to save you, Astrid."

"So... just defending myself, then?" Astrid asked hesitantly, "No killing...?"

"No killing," Thora answered, and she and Cnut shared another glance.

Okay, she could do that. She didn't have to hurt the dragons if she was just defending herself.

"Okay," Astrid gave a hesitant smile, "Okay, I can do that. Um... good luck on your trip. I'll... see you when you get back."

Astrid immediately sprinted up the stairs, not catching the third glance that Cnut and Thora shared before they shook their heads in confusion, throwing their traveling sacks over their shoulders and heading for the front door.

* * *

Hiccup stared at the small scale in his hand as he walked up the hill toward his house, and, when he reached it, he quietly opened his door, hesitantly looking inside. His father was sitting next to the hearth, poking at it, embers flying around his beard. Hiccup had stayed in the forest until it was dark out, watching the dragons, curious about the Night Fury that had spared him; he had stayed out well past the curfew his father had instated the day he earned the large scar on his palm, and he really didn't feel like fighting at the moment.

He glanced at his left wrist; the Night Fury's claws had nicked him, and now there was a large spot of blood on his sleeve. He wouldn't know how to explain such a thing to his father without causing trouble, so he quickly shuffled past him, hiding the scale in his vest, using his hands and feet to crawl up the stairs in an attempt to avoid any creaks.

"Hiccup."

"Dad!" Hiccup exclaimed, startled, nearly banging his head against the stairs he was crawling on. He quickly stood, covering the blood spot with the hand that was still hanging onto his axe. "Um... yeah, Dad? What is it?" He really hoped it wasn't the curfew thing; that Night Fury had rattled him beyond belief, and he was tired and really just wanted to go to bed.

"I think it's time you learned to fight dragons," Stoick said, and Hiccup started a little.

"Um... what?" Was his father actually allowing him to do what he wanted without a fight? He had been begging to join Dragon Training for _months_ now.

"You got your wish," Stoick looked at him as if the boy had defeated him, "Dragon Training. You start in the morning."

"Really?"

"_Yes,_" Stoick grumbled, obviously annoyed at having to validate himself. He grabbed Hiccup's hands, forcing him to hold his axe up properly. "This is serious, Hiccup. When you carry that axe, you carry all of us. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us. No more of," he gestured to Hiccup, "_This. _Deal?"

"But you just pointed to _all_ of me," Hiccup said indignantly. Was he _always_ going to be the defenseless hiccup in his father's eyes?

"_Deal?_"

Hiccup gave an annoyed sigh, looking up at his father with defiant eyes. What irked him even more was the fact that his father hasn't even noticed the large blood spot on his sleeve.

"Deal."

Stoick threw his traveling sack over his shoulder, and Hiccup remembered that the voyage was meant to live tonight rather than tomorrow. "Good," He said, walking towards the front door, "Train hard."

The door slammed shut.

* * *

Hiccup glanced around the docks, watching the men load up the boats, holding his axe in a white-knuckled grip. He looked at the other children, all hugging their parents goodbye, and he scowled as his father approached from the side, dropping the head of his axe on the docks while still holding onto its handle. Stoick turned away as well, staring out at the ocean.

"I'll be back," He said, "Probably."

"And I'll be here," Hiccup muttered, "Maybe."

Gobber watched the interaction from one of the ships he was helping load up, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, for Odin's sake," He muttered, tossing a sack of cargo towards an awaiting Viking, the force sending the poor man straight into the water. Gobber paid him no mind, walking straight towards Stoick and Hiccup.

He stopped behind them, slightly centered, and rolled his eyes again, letting a hand drop over his eyes in frustration. He removed his hand, turning his attention to Stoick. "Eh, Hiccup would like to say that he'll miss you and that he wishes you'll find that Thor-forsaken dragon nest so you can stop takin' your frustrations out on everyone, namely poor Gobber."

Neither of them reacted, still staring ahead with identical scowls on their faces, and Gobber sighed. "Stoick would like to say that he'll be thinkin' of you the whole time, so train hard, don't throw a house party, and he'll do his best not to get eaten by a dragon or a sea serpent. But, ya know, if that does happen, well, that's that."

"We're Vikings; it's an occupational hazard," Stoick said calmly, not looking at his son or Gobber.

"We're Vikings; it's an occupational hazard," Gobber clarified.

"I said that part," Stoick grumbled, moving past Gobber and Hiccup and hopping onto the boat.

"Oh, well excuse me for helpin'," Gobber grumbled back, and Stoick rolled his eyes, turning his attention to the two.

"I want him back with all limbs intact," Stoick said seriously before turning his attention to the rest of the ships, "SET SAIL!"

Hiccup watched as his father left, once again going off on a fool's errand, leaving him behind.

* * *

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber exclaimed, pushing open the wooden gate that closed off the arena. It wasn't all that impressive; just a simple enclosed, stone area with a few shields and weapons lying around, as well as a few gates locked up on the inside. The roof wasn't really a roof; it was just a bunch of chains linked together.

The group that followed him in included Hiccup, carrying his personal axe, Snotlout, carrying a mace, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, carrying personalized spears, and Fishlegs, carrying a stone hammer. Astrid, struggling to carry a plain looking axe, followed behind them slowly, an expression of doom on her face. Luckily, though, nobody has noticed her yet.

The group looked around, twisting their heads and their bodies to take in their new surroundings.

"This is great," Tuffnut grinned, "I'm hoping to get some serious burns."

"I'm hoping for some mauling," Ruffnut added, "Like, on my shoulder, or my lower back."

"Yep," Hiccup said, his tone somehow both bored and sarcastic at once, "Pain. _Love_ it."

"Yeah, I know, right?" The kids turned to the owner of the grumbling voice, finding Astrid a little ways behind them, her expression a bit annoyed. "It's no fun unless you get a scar out of it."

"Aw, great, who let _her_ in?" Tuffnut complained quite loudly. "OW!" He shouted, clutching his aching arm when Ruffnut suddenly gave him a rather hard punch. He turned to glare at her, and she simply returned the look, the two growling in each other's faces.

See? Ruffnut could be considered her fried.

Gobber approached them, either not hearing or just pretending to not hear Tuffnut's complaint. "Let's get started!" He bellowed, "The recruit who does best will get the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!"

Astrid gave him a startled look. She thought they were just training, not actually killing. She released a quiet sigh through her nose, attempting to calm her nerves. It should be okay; he said it would be the recruit who does the_ best_, and she knew that wouldn't be her, thank the gods. For once, she was actually grateful she sucked at fieldwork.

"Um, Astrid already killed a dragon," Snotlout mocked, "Does that disqualify her or...? OW!" Snotlout cut himself off with a cry when Hiccup and Ruffnut simultaneously gave him a hard punch on each arm, and he clutched the aching spots with his hands, looking as if he was cold and trying to warm himself up.

He glared at Hiccup and Ruffnut, who merely shot him irritated looks while Tuffnut burst out laughing at the scene. Snotlout opened his mouth to say something - "OW!" - and Hiccup cut him off with another punch.

Astrid snorted a little, trying not to laugh along with Tuffnut at the scene. Fishlegs, it seemed, was simply ignoring them.

"Astrid." Astrid jumped, letting out a tiny, surprised squeak before turning to face Gobber. How does a huge man with a peg-leg walk that quietly? He placed his remaining hand on her shoulders, leading her toward the other recruits. "Don't worry. You're small and you're weak." Astrid shot him a look, which he promptly ignored. "It gives you an advantage! They'll see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens. Heh, heh." He laughed at his own joke, shoving her in line next to Fishlegs and Ruffnut, who pulled Astrid a bit closer.

He walked in front of them, reminding Hiccup of the way his father walked when addressing his men for battle. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder-"

Astrid immediately perked up, curious about the one she set free. She wondered how much she would actually learn about the _Nadder,_ rather than just learning how to fight against it. Beside her, Fishlegs perked up as well, interrupted Gobber's speech.

"Speed 8, armor 16," He said.

"The Hideous Zippleback-"

"Plus 11 stealth, times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare-"

"Firepower 15."

"The Terrible Terror-"

"Attack 8, venom 12."

"WILL YOU STOP THAT!" Gobber shouted before taking a deep breath, rolling his eyes a little. He suddenly grinned, placing his hand on the release lever of the cage he was next to, "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength 8," Fishlegs whispered, glancing at Astrid for a brief moment. She simply gave him an odd look before turning her attention back to Gobber. Hiccup, however, leaned over a little, whispering, "How is that useful right now?"

Fishlegs whispered back, quite bluntly, "It's not." Hiccup gave a small nod, an 'oh, I see' sort of look on his face, obviously amused by the answer.

Snotlout suddenly stepped forward, looking a bit panicked, "Whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber said flippantly. Hiccup held back a snort; he had learned that the hard way when he first began working at the smithy.

And then he unbarred the door.

Not even a second later, an earth colored Gronkle flew through the doors, slamming them into the walls in the process. It snorted and growled as it flew around, its wings reminding Astrid very much of a bee's. Everyone immediately scrambled, running out of the way as it flew by them. Unable to stop its momentum in time, the Gronkle slammed into the wall, going down for a brief moment before it scrambled back up, swallowing some rocks it had dislodged from the wall.

"Today is about survival!" Gobber shouted, "Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor," Hiccup said, his tone sarcastic despite his crouched, ready posture, his eyes never leaving the Gronkle's form.

"Plus 5 speed!" Fishlegs shouted, his voice panicked. Actually, that _would_ be a nice thing to have when fighting a dragon.

"Um," Astrid stuttered, her eyes speedily glancing around the arena in a nervous fashion. She was at a disadvantage due to her lack of skills, and she _really_ didn't want to get fried by a dragon because of it. "A shield...?"

"Shield! Go!"

Everyone immediately followed his orders, scrambling toward the shields. Hiccup grabbed a red one, with white designs painted through it. Snotlout grabbed one that looked very similar, only the red was white and the white was a dark brown. Astrid found a rather colorful shield, but she struggled to figure out how to put it on.

"The most important piece of equipment is your shield!" Gobber approached Astrid, irritantly grabbing her shield and forcing it on her arm. "If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!" He shoved her forward, making her release a noise of surprise.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut grabbed a shield with skulls and orange flames, starting a tug-of-war between the two.

"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut shouted.

"There's, like, a _million_ shields!" Ruffnut shouted back.

"Take that one, it has a flower on it," Tuffnut said flippantly, "Girls like flowers." Ruffnut, annoyed, snatched the shield from him, only smash it directly into his face.

"Oops," She said irritantly, holding the shield out toward him, "Now this one has blood on it."

They were so busy arguing that they didn't notice the approaching Gronkle until it shot a blast at them, shattering the shield in question, sending them both to the ground in a daze.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!"

"What?" The twins replied dazedly at once, slowly sitting up in confusion.

"Those shields are good for another thing; noise!" Gobber ordered, "Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"

Everyone immediately began banging their weapons against the metal center of their shields, creating a loud clanking noise, and the Gronkle began shaking its head in confusion, its eyes blinking rapidly.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five...?" Snotlout shouted.

"No, six!" Fishlegs added.

"Correct, six! That's one for each of you!"

Fishlegs smiled proudly, the hand holding his shield raised. "I really like-" He was cut off by a blast from the Gronkle, knocking his shield straight from his arms.

"Fishlegs, out!"

It didn't seem Fishlegs cared very much; the second the blast took away his shield, he ran off screaming, his arms raised in the air in a panic, dropping his hammer in the process.

"Astrid!" Gobber bellowed when he saw her shield, the girl hiding behind a wooden stand. "Get in the there!" She hesitantly waddled out, but let out a surprised shout, immediately going back into her hiding place when the Gronkle let out a blast near her.

The Gronkle immediately turned its attention to Hiccup and Snotlout. Hiccup was in a crouch, ready to spring away at any second, while Snotlout stood behind him casually, not paying attention to the chaos going on around him.

"So, cous, I wondering if you wanted to come over sometime for some family catch up." Snotlout said. The cousins had a rather odd, yet amusing relationship. Some days, they got along just fine. Some days, Snotlout tried to impress his more skilled cousin, although that one didn't start until after Hiccup had actually _obtained_ those skills and scared Snotlout into being at least a_ little_ bit respectful. Some days, they were even worse than the twins. It would appear it was one of the 'let's impress Hiccup' days. Hiccup, however, was paying no attention to him, his eyes fixed on the Gronkle.

"You could come by, and we could have a family work out or something," Snotlout continued, and Hiccup gave him an odd look before he cartwheeled away, his axe making a clanking noise when his hands hit the ground. Snotlout, still not paying attention, called after him, "I mean, you know, you look like you work out!"

The second the words left his mouth, the Gronkle fired, the blast, luckily catching his shield, knocking him back a few feet.

"Snotlout, you're done!"

Hiccup ended up near Astrid, who attempted to act casual. If she as going to get fried by a lava spewing dragon, she might as well be Viking-ish about it, right?

"So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?" She said, not noticing the way Hiccup's eyebrows lifted or how his eyes widened for a brief, nearly unnoticeable second before he straightened up.

"Nope, just you," He said quite casually, quickly jumping out of the way as the Gronkle let out another blast, catching Astrid's shield. It threw it off her arm, and she immediately tried to catch it as it rolled away.

"One shot left!"

Running after her shield, though, turned the Gronkle's attention on her, and it immediately flew after her.

"_Astrid!_" Hiccup shouted, his tone both worried and annoyed. Worried that she would get hurt; annoyed that she would be stupid enough to draw the Gronkles attention towards her. Ruffnut stood a little straighter as well, her expression concerned.

The Gronkle cut her off, backing her into a wall. Astrid released panicked breaths, the Gronkle right in her face. She squeezed her eyes shut when the glow of a flame at the back of the Gronkle's throat began glowing brighter and brighter. Gobber and Hiccup suddenly appeared, though, and the man used his hook hand to grab the Gronkle's mouth, yanking it away just as it released its shot, and Hiccup shoved Astrid down, and she covered her head with her hands as he covered her, the blast exploding a few feet above their heads.

"And that's six," Gobber said, his voice slightly strained as he struggled with the Gronkle, "Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!"

Gobber re-barred the cage once the Gronkle was back inside, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He turned his attention to the class. "Remember, a dragon will always," He turned his attention to Astrid and Hiccup, "_Always_ go for the kill."

Gobber lifted Astrid upright by her arm before leading the class away. Ruffnut glanced back at her, her eyes a bit worried, before Tuffnut grabbed her arm, dragging her away to follow Gobber and Snotlout.

Astrid glanced at the smoldering wall behind her, her mind drawn back to the Nadder. She glanced over at Hiccup for a brief moment, catching sight of his thoughtful face, and she wondered what he was thinking of, and he suddenly glanced up at her, making her start a little in surprise.

"You okay?"

"Oh, um… yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Why were they spared?

* * *

**Okay, so like I said, this chapter's mostly canon and doesn't really delve too deeply into their thoughts, but I _am_ following the plot of the movie, so, as I said before, canon scenes will be used.**

**Also, that second Deadly Nadder _is_ going to play a part in the story, though it's going to be small, so please don't expect any huge surprises from him.**

**And _please_ don't complain to me about how Astrid isn't competitive enough; I _am_ keeping her competitive, but this is a competition she wants absolutely no part in, so she's not really going to get too competitive about it.**

**Okay, there's chapter three; I hope you enjoyed it :)**


	4. Second Glimpse

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**I know the chapter title is lame, but I couldn't think of anything, so...**

* * *

"So, why didn't you...?" Astrid murmured as she kneeled, picking up the large rocks that weighted the bola. She had decided to skip out on going to the Great Hall for lunch after hearing what Gobber had to say about the dragons; instead, she had decided to go out in search of the Nadder she had shot down, though she wasn't too sure why she made such a decision.

Dragons always go for the kill, he said.

Then why was she still here? That Nadder had done nothing but growl at her before scurrying off; it didn't even seem like it _wanted_ to attack her, just intimidate her.

She wanted to know why.

Sighing, she stood, continuing her trek through the forest. Eventually, she came along a gap in the rocks that led to a large cove. It had a wide lake, and it looked like a spot perfect for scenery and relaxation.

The Nadder was nowhere to be seen.

Astrid sighed heavily, a little annoyed. She's been searching for hours now, and she still couldn't find it. It had flown away, more than likely.

She glanced down, catching sight of something shining in the sunlight. She knelt down, studying the rock-sized scales left on the ground. Each one was a swirl of daylight and sky colors, and she picked up a light blue one, examining it. One side was rough and hard, looking dull in the sunlight; the other side was smooth, still hard though, and shined like metal in the sun.

She squinted her eyes, looking a bit closer when something suddenly shot up in front of her with a shriek, making her fall back in shock.

It was the Deadly Nadder.

It was scrabbling on the rocks in front of her, trying to get itself up, but something seemed to be weighing it down. It shoved off the rocks, and, for some reason, only used its right winged forelimb to awkwardly glide down to the edge of the lake with a frustrated squawk.

Fascinated, Astrid slid down the rocks to get a better view. It tried again, scrambling at the rocks with its forelimbs before it slid down again, and, in its frustration, it shot some of its tail spikes, embedding them into the walls of the cove.

She finally saw the problem, the reason it wasn't using its left wing. There was a large tear in the wing, split very close to the middle, going a long ways up. It made the two sides of the wing flap uselessly, like a piece of parchment in the wind.

She watched it for a moment as it ducked its head in annoyance, catching sight of a few fish swimming through the lake. It snapped its head into the water, but missed, coming up empty.

Huh... so dragons eat fish...?

Astrid, trying to get a better look, shuffled forward, causing a few pebbles to fall over the side. The Nadder immediately looked up at her, and she froze, afraid it was still angry with her when recognition entered its eyes.

The dragon, however, simply cocked its head, regarding her curiously, and Astrid's eyes calmed, taking on a more curious look as well.

They had made eye contact for the fourth time since they met, and they weren't trying to kill each other this time.

That_ had_ to be a good sign.

* * *

"Why!? You had me right there, and you just let me go!?"

Hiccup sighed through his nose as he trekked through the woods, using his axe to brush aside any bushes or branches. He was attempting to retrace his steps; figure out where he was when he first found the Night Fury.

He wanted to know why it didn't just kill him. Dragons always go for the kill, Gobber said. Then why did the most feared dragon of the archipelago simply screech in his face before running off. In fact, it looked more curious than anything when he was able to keep its gaze without showing fear, despite his heart trying to jump out of his chest.

The offspring of lightning and death itself had spared his life. And that made him curious.

He stopped when he came upon an odd sight. The trees around him were scratched up, some broken, and the ground had claw marks running through it, as if a dragon had been using it as a take off ground. It seemed, though, that it kept failing to actually take off.

How did he not notice this last time?

After what felt like hours of walking, following the path of broken trees and upturned dirt, he came upon a large _ravine._ It was a deep, narrow, steep-sided valley with a stream of running water flowing along the downslope channel at the bottom; the stream had quite a few large rocks that could be used as stepping stones within it. From where he was standing, he could see that the stream flowed directly down a small cliff - like a miniature waterfall - and into another ravine; the second ravine was more rocky instead forest-like. Grass and trees surrounded the stream, as well as patches of mud; the hill he was standing on was a mixture of both mud and grass. **[1]**

The mud had prints in it; large, clawed prints.

He gazed around, trying to find the source of the prints; aside from said prints, nothing seemed out of place. It shouldn't be so hard to find such a large, black dragon; then again, this dragon was the top dog when it came to stealth.

Releasing a quick breath, Hiccup slid down the hill, somehow managing to stay on his feet the entire time. When he reached the bottom, he caught himself just beside the stream, quickly looking around again.

Nothing.

Hiccup rolled his eyes in frustration. "Well, this was stupid," He muttered bitterly, finding a large rock to sit back on.

_Grrrll..._

Hiccup started, releasing a sharp breath through his nose, jerking his head to the right. He let out a surprised noise, falling back from the rock and onto his back.

The Night Fury stood just a few feet away from him, its bright green cat eyes fixated on him. It was hunched over, ready to spring at any moment, its wings slightly folded inward. A growl rumbled in the back of its throat, seeming to never end.

Hiccup released deep breaths, his adrenaline catching up to him. Slowly he reached out a hand. The dragon's eyes snapped to his hand for a brief moment before it caught his eyes again, the growling taking on more of a warning tone.

Hiccup quickly retracted his hand, and the dragon's lips sealed shut, hiding its teeth from view. The growling went silent, and it kept its eyes on his.

The Night Fury kept his gaze for several long minutes before its eyes narrowed curiously. It began sniffing at the air before it looked back at him, its head cocked. It took a cautious step closer, still sniffing, and Hiccup furrowed his brows a little, having a good idea of what it was smelling.

He shifted, and the dragon jerked back, releasing another growl. Hiccup moved his hand toward his fur vest, and the growling increased in volume. Reaching inside, he pulled out a small bag, and the dragon narrowed its eyes, sniffing at the air again. When it realized the smell was coming from the bag, it shifted its eyes to it in curiosity, taking another cautious step forward, continuing to sniff.

Hiccup untied the string around the bag, opening it up and pulling out a strip of fish jerky; bass to be exact. The dragon cocked its head again, sniffing at the dried fish meat. It released a curious rumble, its eyes dilating, but only slightly, making them look a little less slit-like.

Hiccup held up the bass jerky in offering, and the dragon shifted, but did not take another step forward. Sighing, Hiccup tossed the jerky into the air, and the Night Fury quickly snapped its head up, snatching the jerky in mid-fall. It ran its large tongue over its top lip, releasing a satisfied noise before returning its attention back to Hiccup.

"You like fish, huh...?" Hiccup murmured quietly, feeling that speaking too loudly would ruin the moment; although, he was unsure of what this moment was.

The dragon snorted, giving him one last look before it walked closer to the stream. Hiccup watched in fascination as it released a concentrated stream of fire onto the ground, twisting around until there was a charred patch about the same size as the Night Fury before it curled up onto it and rested its head on its front legs.

Hiccup shifted, and the dragon's eyes snapped over to him, watching his every movement. He re-tied the bag of fish jerky before replacing it inside his vest. He took out the leather book he constantly carried around, as well as a stick of charcoal. He started carrying this book around after discovering all the wild dragons in the forest, the sky, and the sea. He liked to draw them, especially if it was a dragon he's never seen before, and capturing the Night Fury on paper would be a huge treat.

And, the fact that it was _right there_, just_ looking_ at him instead of attacking him, made that treat even more special.

The dragon watched him curiously as he drew it, hearing the sound of the charcoal scratching onto the parchment of the book, and Hiccup stopped, narrowing his eyes when he noticed something off about the dragon. He shifted a bit closer, and the dragon let out a halfhearted warning growl.

The left tail fin was torn and tattered, as if something had taken a large bite out of it.

He placed his book and charcoal back into his vest before shifting closer again, and the halfhearted warning growl turned into a real warning.

Hiccup held up his hands in surrender, stopping his movements, and the dragon quieted, its lips twitching in an attempt to ignore its instinct to continue growling at how close he was.

"What happened to your tail…?" Hiccup whispered, and the dragon let out a snort, turning its head away and bringing up its tail, using its good tail fin to block its face from view.

Hiccup stared at it for a moment before his curiosity got the best of him. He slowly reached out a hand, wanting to know if he could get away with touching it this time, curious about the wounded fin.

_Maybe it got into a fight...?_

Damn his curiosity; the dragon already gave a warning and he was still going for it.

* * *

By the time Astrid had made it to the Great Hall, she was soaked. A storm had started up as she was walking back to the village, and she hadn't made it back in time to remain dry. She reached out her hands to push the large doors open.

"Astrid?"

"Ah!" She let out a startled shout, jumping around to face Hiccup. He was just as soaked as she was, giving her a look that was both apologetic and amused.

"Hiccup, you're... not with the others...?"

"Ah," He shifted, looking a bit uncomfortable, "No, I... skipped out on lunch. But, I figured if I made it back for supper, Gobber won't be as upset."

"Right," Astrid nodded, "Right."

Silence.

Man, this was awkward.

Astrid glanced down, and her eyes widened at the sight of Hiccup's left hand. He was holding his axe in it, but it was covered in blood, oozing out from what looked like bite marks.

She quickly snatched his hand up, her healer instincts getting the best of her. "What happened to your hand?" She demanded, her tone a bit startled.

"Ah," He tried to snatch his hand back, but she wouldn't let him, and he released a hiss when she increased the pressure of her grip in an attempt to keep his hand in hers. She quickly released him at the sound, giving him an apologetic look.

"It's fine, it's fine," He tried to placate her, but she just gave him a stern stare.

"Look, Astrid, I went walking through the forest and one of the animals bit me. It's no big deal, and if it makes you feel better, I'll have Gramma Gothi look at it, alright? Now, let's just get inside before we get sick from the rain."

Astrid continued looking at him for a moment. Obviously, he was bitten; the teeth marks say that much. He didn't look sick or tired, so the animal wasn't venomous. The most he would have to worry about was infection, but Elder Gothi can handle that just fine. Besides, Hiccup was her great-grandson; she would give him the best treatment there is. **[2]**

For gods' sake, she even let him get away with calling her 'Gramma'.

"Okay," She sighed out reluctantly, and he gave her a little grin, leading her into the Great Hall. The recruits were the only ones present; the voyage to the Nest consisted of pretty much every Viking that wasn't elderly or young, plus Gobber and the recruits, so there weren't very many people left in the village.

"And where did Astrid and Hiccup go wrong today?" Gobber asked in a booming voice, his tone annoyed, most likely irked at, not only their tardiness, but the fact that they had skipped out on lunch.

Astrid had the decency to look embarrassed, but Hiccup simply ignored him, grabbing a plate with a single drumstick and a cup of ale.

"Uh, they showed up," Snotlout smirked, and Hiccup shot him an irritated look as he took his seat next to him.

"They didn't get eaten," Tuffnut added as Astrid grabbed her own cup of ale, walking around to the other side of the table to take a seat next to Ruffnut.

"We're never where we_ should_ be?" Hiccup offered, one of his smartass grins on his face, and Gobber let out a huff.

Ruffnut smirked at him before suddenly giving Tuffnut a swift punch on the arm, ignoring the indignant "ow!", the force of the punch causing the blonde to slide over. Ruff scooted over as well, leaving room for Astrid to sit to the left of her. Astrid gave her an amused grin before sliding into her seat, taking a sip of her drink.

"Thank you, Hiccup," Gobber said, his voice somehow both monotonous and irked at the same time. He held up a book, shoving food out of the way to drop it on the table, "The Dragon Manual. You've got to live and breathe this stuff. All we know about every dragon we know about." Gobber glanced up at the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. "No attacks tonight. Study up." He walked out of the Hall, leaving everyone sitting at the table behind him.

Tuffnut, who had been trying to balance his knife on its sharp end, suddenly sat up straight, letting the weapon fall back, "Wait. You mean _read?_"

"While we're still _alive?_" Ruffnut added, a horrified look on her face.

"Well," Astrid grinned at her, "I very much doubt that you could read while you're _dead._"

Ruffnut simply snorted at her.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout said irritantly, slapping his fist on the table, causing one of the eaten crab legs to shoot into the air for a brief moment before hitting the table.

"Oh! Oh!" Fishlegs piped up excitedly, "I've read it, like, seven times! There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face!" Snotlout stared at Fishlegs like he had suddenly grown a second head. "And, and there's this other dragon that buries itself for, like, a week-"

"Yeah," Tuffnut grinned, making a 'silence' motion with his hand, "That sounds great. And there was a chance that I was gonna read that."

"Buuut..." Ruffnut added boredly, "Now..."

"You guys read," Snotlout said, standing and walking off, "I'll go kill stuff."

Fishlegs started following him, once again going on about another species of dragon he had read about. The twins followed as well, trying to catch up and push each other down at the same time.

Astrid shook her head with a small smile as she watched the twins antics before looking at Hiccup, who was picking at his food; he looked very deep in thought. He was picking his food with his bloody hand, and Astrid cringed at the sight of it, afraid if he put off treatment of it an infection would take him.

"So, uh..." She tried, a little hesitant about cutting into his thoughts, "Guess we'll share...?"

"Hm?" He glanced up at her, seeming to not have heard her question. He glanced at the Dragon Manual, his face thoughtful. He suddenly shook his head, standing. "Already read it..." He mumbled, turning to leave.

"Okay, all mine, then," Astrid muttered before looking up at him. He was nearly at the door before she called out to him. "Hiccup...?"

He turned, giving her a questioning look.

"Um... your hand...?"

"It's fine, Astrid. Like I said, I'll just have Gramma Gothi look at it."

Astrid simply stared at him, and he sighed, walking back over to her and sitting next to her, letting his wounded hand rest on the table, blood still sluggishly seeping out of it. Astrid grabbed the medical box she always kept strapped to her belt, setting it on the table and rifling through it. She took out a small bottle and opened it up, glancing over at him.

"This stuff stings," Was the only warning he got before she poured some of the contents onto his hand, the liquid making his hand look like it was bleeding more than it really was, and Hiccup hissed, his hand locking up and shaking from the pain; a few bubbled piled up in the wound, and he could've sworn he heard sizzling.

"That," Astrid said, closing the bottle and putting back inside the box, "Was to clean it. When it bubbles up like that, it means you had something in there that could've caused an infection."

"Ah," Hiccup muttered as she took out some herbs and spread them along the wound, "Lovely."

"Are you sure this is just an animal bite?" Astrid asked as she wrapped his hand in some gauze, "Because it kind of looks like…."

Astrid trailed off, unsure of how to go about the question she truly wanted to ask. Obviously, she was taking too long to think, because Hiccup shifted, looking as if he wanted to leave, but not wanting to just ignore her.

"Hiccup, do you ever think that dragons... don't really hate us?"

He looked startled at her question, and also a little suspicious.

"What...?"

"Um," Astrid stuttered, kind of wishing she had just let it go, "Well... maybe they aren't... out to kill us like we think... or something?"

Silence.

And the awkwardness returns...

She glanced up at the sound of him shifting, and she saw that he had scooted a bit closer to her, looking to be deep in thought again, his eyes on the table. The light in the room began to fade as the fires began to burn out, until all that was left were the two candles on the table where they sat. "I don't know, Astrid," He murmured, "Maybe they aren't."

She didn't expect Hiccup to look up just then, and she realized just how close he had gotten to her. Their faces were just inches apart, and she would have jumped back or pushed him back if it weren't for his eyes. She never noticed how green they were before, and looking into them was like looking into a sea of confusion; she didn't think that 'lost' was something that could be seen.

To her embarrassment, she felt herself falter when his warm breath mixed with hers. Her face felt hot, and she knew it was beginning to turn pink.

"Um..." Why was she whispering? "What if I can't kill a dragon?"

He stared at her, and she wanted to look away from his intense gaze, but found that she couldn't. "Can't or won't?" He whispered back, and she furrowed her brows at the question as he suddenly stood and turned, walking back towards the doors.

Can't or won't...?

She glanced up, starting at the sight of him opening up the doors. "Ah, okay!" She called out to him, "So, I'll see you," the doors slammed shut, "tomorrow..."

Can't or won't?

* * *

Astrid took a seat at the recruits' table, using the two candles as a source of light. By the time Hiccup had left her to herself, the lights in the room had been completely burned out, and she would be completely lost if it weren't for the two candles at the table.

She opened the book, looking at the contents.

"Dragon classifications..." She read aloud, her voice quiet, "Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class..." Astrid shrugged, turning through the pages to find the dragon she was looking for specifically.

"Deadly Nadder, Deadly Nadder, Deadly Nadder..." She mumbled to herself as she flipped through the pages.

She stopped when the one she was looking for caught her eye.

"The Deadly Nadder..." She murmured, reading, "Size Medium, Attack 10, Speed 8, Armor 16, Firepower 18, Venom 16, Jaw Strength 5, Stealth 10, Shot Limit 6..." She sighed, shaking her head; that wasn't the kind of information she needed. She looked back at the page, trying to find something else to read. She read aloud again.

"The Deadly Nadder is one of the most beautiful dragons in the world. It is easily recognized by the brilliant yellow spikes that cover it head to tail. This colorful dragon is active any time of the day or night. Nadders are quick and agile in the air and can fly for long distances, but will almost always land before attacking. Nadders travel and raid in groups, making them especially dangerous. The Deadly Nadder isn't the largest or fastest dragon, but it possesses the hottest fire in the dragon world. The blast of a Nadder can melt steel, or turn a man to ash in seconds. But the dangers of the Nadder don't stop there. The tail of the Nadder can be whipped around, releasing a volley of giant, poisonous spikes that can penetrate trees, walls, and Vikings. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

Astrid stared at the page for a moment, gaining plenty of information about the dragon she shot, and yet, somehow, gaining none at all. She flipped through the pages again, reading the small glimpses she caught as she turned them.

"Extremely dangerous... kill on sight... Gronkle... Zippleback... Skrill... Boneknapper... Whispering Death... burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out... extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight-"

Astrid abruptly stopped when she reached the final page of the book. It was completely blank aside from the title and a few words at the bottom.

"Night Fury..." She whispered, "Speed Unknown. Size Unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you."

Astrid stared at the page for a long moment, slowly lifting a hand to her chin, resting her elbow on the table, her eyes never leaving the page.

"Huh... I wonder what would've happened... if I had actually caught you..."

* * *

**Aw, Hiccstrid moment :)**

**And poor Hiccup; Toothless snapped at him.**

**1) **_A **ravine** is a deep, narrow steep-sided valley formed by running water (some people might know this, but I actually didn't myself, so I decided to put this in here). If you want a better picture in your head, simply type in 'forest ravines' in the google image search; I used a picture depicting a forest surrounding a stream that was filled with rocks, a picture depicting a stream with a fallen tree that had a rather large hill leading to it, and a picture depicting a ravine with a miniature waterfall._

**2) **_After looking up some Viking culture, I discovered that there was a select few Viking villages that practiced this tradition. When the chief, should he live that long, became too old and passed on his title to his successor, he and his wife would be considered village elders. I've seen a few fanfictions that decide to make Elder Gothi Hiccup's grandmother, and I decided to do it as well using that practice; only, she's Hiccup's great grandmother in this one as opposed to just his regular grandmother. I really like her as Hiccup's grandmother :)_

_Also, I know it's spelled 'Grandma,' but I call my grandmother 'Gramma,' so I decided to make Hiccup do that, too._

**Okay, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt that the movie and the series didn't really do much with Astrid and Hiccup, so I'm attempting to fix that by adding in a few moments :)**


	5. The Forbidden Friendship

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**Moments in this chapter are mostly canon, with the exception of added and changed dialog and scenery, as well as added thoughts. I just loved these scenes between Toothless and Hiccup so much that I had to use them, so... enjoy :)**

* * *

Gothi impatiently tapped her staff against her floors, creating a loud noise in an attempt to quiet down the playing, squealing children. The voyage Stoick orchestrated took all of their warriors, leaving only the elderly and young children, as well as Gobber and the recruits, within the village. The Hairy Hooligans were one of the smallest tribes in the archipelago, and not every child had a grandparent to take care of them. So, for now, the left over children were in her care. She would let them play outside, but it was dark out, as well as raining heavily; she also feared that they would be careless and fall from her porch, and her house was built too high to survive such a fall.

The children went silent at the sound of her staff, and she used it to point them to the other room. Her main room was filled with breakables, as well as medical supplies, and she doesn't want anything shattering or spilling over. The children obeyed, their laughter picking back up as they ran into the back room just as her front door opened.

Gothi turned her attention to Hiccup as he entered her home; he was soaked to the bone, and he quickly closed to door behind him so as to not let the rain in.

He gave a small grin. "Hey, Gramma," He said, "I need some herbs."

Gothi immediately held up a hand to his forehead and cheeks, and he flinched back a little. She gave him a look; it was always freezing on this island, and it was raining out, so it was only natural to check if he was ill. As a matter of fact, he did feel a little warm.

He simply returned her look with a weak grin, and she rolled her eyes a little before turning to her shelf of medical supplies. She grabbed some crushed herbs and roots, as well as honey to get rid of the oncoming fever before it got any worse.

She held up her spoon of honey. He made a move to turn his head, but stopped at the stern look on her face. The honey was meant to sooth any soreness in the throat, as well as sooth any coughing. When he swallowed, she dipped her fingers in her cup of muddy looking, vile smelling crushed herbs and root, and he cringed a little. She's given him this treatment before when he came about the flu one year and, although it helped, he didn't like it very much; then again, who did? She spread the herbs across his forehead to placate the fever, then she spread it along his throat to placate any soreness, and then, after untying the strings of his tunic, along his chest to placate any aching or coughing. You were supposed to rest while the herbs did their jobs, but she knew he was simply going to wash it all off before going to sleep; however, having them for a short while was better than not having them at all.

He re-knotted his tunic as she put her medicine back in its proper place, his face thoughtful.

"Gramma?" He said a bit hesitantly, "Can sleep medicine be spread on fish jerky?"

Gothi narrowed her eyes at him, but he simply returned her stare rather confidently. He was up to something, probably something stupid, but she wouldn't stop him. He was fifteen, almost sixteen, he could make his own decisions; after all, it was his business.

She returned to her medical supplies, shuffling through to find the sleep medicine and handed it to him. He took it gratefully before walking off, glancing down at something in his hand, and, looking closely, she could see it was a black scale.

She wouldn't question him. It was his business.

* * *

Hiccup left his home early the next morning, when the sun was just rising, turning the sky a bright a pink. What he was doing was probably really stupid, but he was going to do it anyway.

He had his supplies ready; a scalpel, sleep medicine covered jerky, spreading herbs, and some gauze.

When he came across the ravine, he stopped at the top of the hill. The Night Fury was there, sleeping inverted from a branch once again, but it opened its eyes to gaze up at him the second he reached the hill. It uncurled its tail from the branch, landing on its claws in a manner eerily similar to a cat, and it remained crouched, gazing up at him suspiciously.

Hiccup sucked in a breath before sliding down the hill, stopping next to a large rock, giving the dragon a respectable distance. He reached into his vest, and the dragon narrowed its eyes, though they softened slightly at the sight of the small sack of fish jerky.

Hiccup held up the sack in offering, and the dragon sniffed at the air a little. Hiccup untied the sack before removing several strips of jerky and tossing them into the air. The dragon snapped its head up, catching them, releasing a rumble as it chewed and swallowed the dried fish.

"You really like that, don't you…?" Hiccup mumbled, and the dragon looked up at him, a deep, curious rumble escaping it.

Hiccup held up another piece of jerky, and he let out a startled shout when the dragon suddenly jumped, knocking him onto his back. When he caught his breath, he glanced down at the weight on his chest, the dragon lying flat on its stomach, its large head resting on his stomach and chest, looking up at him, glancing back and forth between his face and the hand holding the jerky.

Hesitantly, Hiccup lowered his hand, and, instead of snatching it, the dragon used its large tongue to remove it, another rumbled escaping it as it swallowed.

Hiccup shifted, and the dragon lifted its head, allowing him to move and sit up. It stayed right where it was, so Hiccup tossed it another piece of jerky.

The process continued in the same manner; the dragon would rumble, Hiccup would toss it a piece of jerky, and it would rumble again, only in a more appreciative manner.

And, when Hiccup ran out of jerky, the dragon stood, stared at him for a moment, and then heated up the ground with its breath before curling up and lying down.

Hiccup stared at it, waiting for the sleep medicine to kick in. At first, he had been fearful that it would smell the medicine, but it was apparently too hungry for that.

After about an hour, he moved and waited for a moment; the dragon didn't stir. He purposely shuffled through loud twigs and leaves, but the dragon didn't react, so he quickly got to work.

He used the scalpel to remove the tattered tail fin before spreading the herbs along the wound and then wrapping it with gauze. It was a bit difficult; he was no healer, and scalpels were a bit odd to him. They were a recent invention, Gobber said. Gramma Gothi had needed to give surgery, but was fearful that their large knives would do more harm than good, so the scalpel was made in response. They were small and curved, and the handle had no covering on it, making it awkward to hold. Wrapping the gauze was also an awkward process, as he had to work around the remaining tail fin, but he managed it at least.

When he was finished, he stuffed his supplies within his vest, glanced at the dragon once more, and then took off.

He'd check on it later.

* * *

"So, Gobber," Hiccup said casually, "I happened to notice that the Manual had nothing on Night Furies. Is there another book I could read, maybe a sequel? A Night Fury pamphlet, maybe?"

It was probably really stupid to try and ask such questions; not only was it a little suspicious, but he was doing it during _training_. But he was curious; he wanted to know about the dragon he was helping.

He paused for a moment in thought. He was_ helping_ a _dragon_.

"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even tryin' today!"

Hiccup suddenly ducked, holding up his shield when a blast flew by his head. He quickly hopped to his feet, running through the maze, the dark blue Nadder following him by hopping along the tops of the wooden walls.

Gobber thought it would be a good idea to turn the arena into a maze today, and it became rather easy to lose his sense of direction.

The Nadder suddenly stopped following him, its attention drawn to Fishlegs.

"Today is all about attack! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. You will have to be quicker and lighter!"

Fishlegs let out a surprised shout when he looked up, seeing the Nadder perched on one of the walls. It held up its tail, spikes suddenly jutting out. Fishlegs quickly held up his shield, running away with a scream when the spikes were embedded into his shield and the wall beside him.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"

"Look for its blind spot!" Gobber ignored him. "Every dragon has one! Find it, hide in it, and strike!"

Astrid ran down a path just as the twins passed her from a different one, and they froze when they saw the Nadder in front of them. They quickly lined up, ducking in front of its face, the horn causing the blindness.

"Agh," Ruffnut groaned as she and Tuffnut swished from to side to stay in the blind spot, "Don't you ever _bathe?_"

Tuffnut roughly backed up, shoving her with his backside, "If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!"

Ruffnut shoved him back with her fist, and the two were suddenly glaring each other down, "How about I give _you_ one!"

They heard an annoyed squawk, and Tuffnut grabbed Ruffnut, pulling her aside when the Nadder released a blast from its mouth.

"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot, not so much," Gobber said boredly, watching as Astrid, Snotlout, and Hiccup ran passed him. Hiccup suddenly stopped, trying to talk to him again.

"So," He said, "How would one, I dunno, sneak up on a Night Fury?"

Gobber rubbed his forehead in irritation, "No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. GET IN THERE!"

"I know, but hypothetically-"

"Hiccup."

Hiccup glanced over at the sound of his whispered name, seeing Astrid and Snotlout crouched next to a wall, tensed, and Hiccup immediately took a place in front of them; the two didn't seem to have a problem with him skipping in front of them.

It just means he gets blasted first.

Hiccup peered behind the wall before immediately ducking again, the dark blue Nadder walking closer to them. He waited until it looked away before rolling across the path, using his shield as a push-up; Snotlout did the same. Astrid tried to copy their movements, but the weight of the shield was too much for her, bringing her down, catching the Nadder's attention.

It snapped at her as she scrambled up, running away. The Nadder hopped onto the walls again before jumping back down, directly in front of Snotlout and Hiccup. Hiccup readied his axe, but Snotlout pushed him aside.

"Watch out, Hiccup, I'll take care of this." He threw his mace at the Nadder, and the dragon casually watched as it hit the wall next to it before looking back at them and squawking.

Hiccup gave Snotlout an annoyed look.

"The sun was in my eyes, little cousin," Snotlout said irritantly before he and Hiccup jumped out of the way of the dragon's fire, running through the maze again. "What do want me to do? Block out the sun? I mean, I could do that, but I don't have the time right now!"

Hiccup let out a startled shout when he realized that the Nadder chose to follow him instead of his chatterbox cousin, dodging when it tried to headbutt him, and its momentum caused it to slam into one of the walls. The maze immediately started going down, and the bird-like dragon continued following Hiccup as the maze fell apart around them.

Astrid was pushed around as Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout ran passed her, and she looked up at the sound of Hiccup's strained voice shouting across the arena, watching as he suddenly hopped onto the tops of the falling walls, jumping from one to the other as he tried to dodge the Nadder.

"They probably take the daytime off, right!? Like a cat!? Has anyone ever seen one napping!?"

Gobber glanced down at Astrid, seeing that she wasn't going to move in time and that Hiccup was paying no attention to her, "Astrid!"

Hiccup's eyes widened when he leaped up onto the last wall, seeing that it was right in front of Astrid, who didn't have enough time to move, watching him with widened eyes. As he went down, he immediately shouted in a panic, "ASTRIIIIID!"

Astrid didn't move out of the way in time, and Hiccup collided with her, both of them tumbling to the ground. Hiccup's shield landed beside them, and he was on top of her, his axe embedded into her shield, and he immediately began struggling to untangle himself and his axe. Astrid began struggling to sit up as well, but his weight held her down, and the two's struggling caused them to end up in a tangle of limbs.

"Can you - well, maybe if you just-"

Astrid was cut off by Ruffnut's croon.

"Ooo, love on the battlefield."

Astrid felt her face heat up. That was the _last_ time she _ever_ tells Ruffnut about any crushes. She should've known she would tease her about it.

"He could do better," Tuffnut snickered, and Hiccup suddenly stood, ignoring his axe in favor of grabbing his forgotten shield. He chucked it in their direction, smacking Tuffnut right in the face, and Ruffnut laughed as she watched her twin go down.

Hiccup looked back down at Astrid as she struggled to sit up with the extra weight on her arm, his brows furrowed in annoyance. Suddenly, there was a crash, and Hiccup released a breath when he saw the Nadder shove a downed wall out of its way, making its way toward them. He immediately grabbed his axe with both hands, trying to remove it from Astrid's shield. In his struggling, he absentmindedly shoved his foot onto Astrid's stomach, and she released a startled breath as Hiccup yanked with all his strength. The shield slid off her arm, but the axe remained embedded in it.

Hiccup didn't have time to dwell on it, using the shield embedded axe as a hammer, swinging the axe and shield together just as the Nadder closed in on them. The shield shattered against the Nadder's head with a loud crunch, and it let out a squawk, shaking its head and waddling away.

Hiccup panted, glancing at his axe; there were some remains of the shield still stuck to it.

"Well done, Hiccup."

Hiccup huffed, his expression turning annoyed at Astrid's carelessness, and he glanced down at her. She was huddled on the ground, holding her head in her hands. Sensing eyes on her, she cautiously peered up, catching Hiccup's irritated eyes.

She gave a hesitant, nervous smile.

Hiccup simply released a breath through his nose, rolling his eyes a little as he bent down, offering her a hand. "You need to move faster," He mumbled as he helped her up.

"Right," She said, watching as he walked off after looking her up and down for any injuries, "Right…."

* * *

Later that day, when the sun was lowered, blemishing the sky oranges, pinks, and purples, Astrid returned to the cove.

She was curious about the Nadder. It seemed rather mellow compared to all the other dragons she's seen, and she wondered if she could actually... _befriend_ it.

A fish silently flew into the cove from between two large rocks, and, after a moment, Astrid hesitantly poked out her head, looking around. Seeing nothing, she tried to walk forward, but her shield got caught between the two rocks. She tried to dislodge it, but it wouldn't budge. She ducked under it before trying to dislodge it again. When it wouldn't budge, she huffed, annoyed.

She walked toward the fish, glancing around cautiously. She picked it up by the gills, walking around the cove. She looked out toward the lake, craning her neck to see across the other side. She jumped a little when she heard a noise behind her, whirling around to find the Deadly Nadder looking at her from a few feet away. How could that thing possibly move so silently?

It continued staring at her, its head constantly cocking at different angles, its eyes constantly blinking, looking very much like a bird. Slowly, Astrid held out the fish, stretching out her arm as far as it would go.

It cocked its head again, its eyes drawn to the fish. Cautiously, it took a few steps forward before stopping, glancing back up at her again. It reminded Astrid of a child looking to its parent for permission to talk to a stranger. When Astrid made no movements, it walked forward again.

Astrid held her breath when it reached her hand, and she lifted it a little higher in offering. The Nadder simply looked at her.

A small pause.

Wow. Awkwardness just loves to follow her around, doesn't it?

"...Um..." Astrid started hesitantly, her voice hushed, "I... I hurt you, and... I'm sorry... I'm not here to do it again, I promise... I just want to feed you."

The Nadder cocked its head again before slowly lowering its head to the fish. It took it from her, throwing the fish in the air every few bites before it was chewed enough to swallow.

Then it just stared at her.

Astrid stared back for a moment before glancing around awkwardly. She looked back at the Nadder. It cocked its head. Astrid licked her lips before speaking, wanting to see if it truly understood her.

"You know..." Her voice still a bit hushed. "My village has a Deadly Nadder in it."

The Nadder perked up a little, and she knew it understood her perfectly.

"He's not as beautiful as you, though." She could've sworn the Nadder began _preening_ at the comment. "His scales are dark blue, and his spikes are yellow. He's not unique like you. You kind of remind of a storm in the daylight. Have you ever seen one before? It's odd, you know? Watching it rain while the sun's still out."

Dear Loki, she was actually talking to a _dragon_.

The Nadder perked up some more at the word "storm", and its yellow eyes lit up as well. It cocked its head curiously, taking a step toward her.

Astrid bit her lip. "Do you like storms?" The Nadder cocked its head again, releasing a bird-like rumble. "You do, huh? They can be pretty, I guess. Do you like to fly in them?"

The Nadder let out a quiet squawk, taking another step forward, and Astrid let a small smile appear on her face.

"You do, don't you? I bet you see some pretty amazing things. I wonder what it would be like to fly. My friend, Hiccup, he's a craftsman, and one of his designs looked like a flying suit. I hope it works. I would love to see the world through a dragon's eyes."

It cocked its head again; it took another step. Astrid's breath, while quiet, increased in speed with her excitement.

"I think Hiccup does, too. He likes exploring. He always talks about seeing the world outside of Berk. It made me curious, too. I've never left Berk before. I wonder what's out there, you know... Storm...fly...?"

The Nadder let out a happy snort, finally stepping directly in front of Astrid.

"Stormfly...?" The Nadder squawked again. "You like that name, huh?" Astrid cautiously lifted a hand, keeping her eyes on the Nadder's. "Stormfly." It squawked again, and Astrid gave a smile filled with awe when she finally touched the Nadder's snout, letting out a single laugh of amazement.

"Stormfly."

Another happy squawk.

"Stormfly."

Squawk.

"Yeah," Astrid smiled excitedly, running her hand up Stormfly's snout, "I like that name, too."

* * *

Hiccup carried the fish by the gills as he walked toward the ravine. The Night Fury appeared to have been waiting for him; it immediately perked up when it saw him, crouching down and releasing a growl.

Hiccup stopped at the top of the hill for a brief moment before he slid down. The growling increased in volume when he reached the bottom of the ravine, and it looked back at its bandaged wrapped tail fin, flailing it irritantly before looking back at Hiccup.

"You should thank me," Hiccup said flippantly, "If I didn't do anything, an infection probably would've taken you."

It snorted at his attitude, and he held out the fish in offering. It sniffed at the air, probably looking for the strange smell of sleep medicine. "It's clean," Hiccup said, and it snorted at him again.

It let out an odd rumble, creeping forward cautiously, its mouth open in acceptance of the fish. It suddenly glanced at his waist, jerking back with a growl, and Hiccup jerked his hand back, holding the fish close as he opened up his vest. It growled at the sight of his axe, hooked onto his belt.

Hiccup shook his head again. "I'm not giving up my axe," He said flippantly, "It's my favorite one and it's pretty important to me. You're gonna have to deal with it."

The dragon stared at him for a moment, watching as he let go of his vest, letting it fall back into place over his axe, its eyes narrowed. It suddenly sat back, dropping its defensive stance completely. It eyes dilated, looking large and docile, and it flicked its ear plate curiously.

Hiccup wanted to laugh at the sight, but he held it back, holding out the fish again. The dragon glanced at his face before turning its attention to the fish, leaning forward with a groan, opening its mouth wide. Hiccup furrowed his brows in confusion.

It had no teeth.

He _knew_ it had teeth; how else would he have gotten such a painful bite wound when it snapped at him? But he could clearly see nothing but gums within its open mouth.

"Huh..." Hiccup said softly, "Toothless... you bit me before, so, I mean, I could've_ sworn_ you had-"

Razor sharp teeth suddenly shot out of its gums, and the dragon snapped forward, snatching the fish and nearly biting Hiccup's hand in the process. Hiccup jerked his hand back as the dragon took only two bites before swallowing the fish hole, licking its lips.

"Teeth..."

It licked its lips once again for a quick moment before its eyes suddenly constricted again, slitting up to look like a cat's. It lowered its head a little, advancing on him, releasing an odd, rattling noise in the back of its throat. Hiccup instinctively backed away, holding up his hands in an attempt to stop it, "No, no, no..."

He fell back, slipping over a loose rock, but the dragon didn't stop, and he slid backwards until his back hit a tree. The dragon stuck its head right in Hiccup's face, its constricted eyes making him uneasy. Hiccup shook his head a little, "I don't have any more. I didn't pack any jerky, either..."

It stared at him for a moment before its eyes suddenly rolled back, its throat expanding and constricting, an odd, gagging noise escaping it. Then it lowered its head, spitting the back end of a regurgitated fish right into his lap.

"Eugh..." Hiccup muttered, his lips curled a little.

The dragon's eyes were dilated again, and it drew its head back, slowly sitting back on its haunches, looking similar to a human resting his elbows on his knees.

It stared at him.

Hiccup stared back.

It kept staring, its noise twitching as it breathed through it.

Hiccup glanced away awkwardly, unsure of what to do, and the dragon glanced down at the fish before looking back up at him.

Hiccup looked back at the fish, then up at the dragon in horror before he sighed resignedly. Very gingerly, he held the fish up to his mouth, hesitating for a moment before he took a bite. "Mmm," He rumbled weakly, smiling slightly, his cheeks puffed out.

The Night Fury tilted its head a little, its ear plates standing up straight as it continued to stare at him.

Hiccup held up the fish, nodding a little with a weak smile, "Mmhmm."

The dragon continued to stare at him. It blinked, one of its ear plates twitching back before it swallowed quite loudly.

"Mmm!" Hiccup tilted his head back with an 'are you kidding me?' face. He forced himself to swallow; it was a struggle, and he shook his head, gagging a little when he did.

The dragon smacked its lips a little, poking its tongue out for a brief moment.

Hiccup smiled a bit painfully at it. It seemed taken aback, and it narrowed its eyes in thought for a brief moment. Very slowly, it pulled its mouth back, revealing its gums in what was unmistakably a smile.

Hiccup couldn't help but be amazed.

He sat the fish on the ground beside him, sitting up a little. Without breaking eye contact, he held out a hand to the smiling dragon. When his hand came closer, the dragon glanced at it, its smile wavering. Its teeth slowly appeared, and it growled before slithering off.

Hiccup watched as it awkwardly glided to the other side of the stream before sighing and walking off.

* * *

Several hours later, the Night groggily opened its eyes, its nose twitching, curious noises escaping it. It glanced over, catching sight of something, and untangled its tail from the tree branch its was hanging from.

Hiccup was sitting on a rock, sketching at the ground in front of him. While the other side of the stream was mostly mud and grass, this side was a bit dryer, with large patches of dirt. He was using it to his advantage in his bored state, scratching at the dirt with a small stick.

He didn't want to go home; he wanted to stay with the Night Fury.

He didn't understand why he was so determined to earn its friendship, but he _was_ going to do it.

He had stubbornness issues; he was a Viking, after all.

He heard a curious croon, glancing to the side to find the dragon standing right next to him. He instinctively tensed up for a brief moment before he relaxed, returning his attention to his drawing. The dragon's eyes followed the movement of Hiccup's hand, letting out curious purrs as it saw that he was drawing it, before it suddenly hopped up on its hind legs and waddled away.

Hiccup furrowed his brows a little, turning to watch the dragon walk toward the forest. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when it tore a branch from a tree. It suddenly danced in front of him, holding the branch in its mouth, using it to dig swooping swirls on the ground around Hiccup.

It continued to twirl around on the dirt for a few more minutes, happy noises escaping it, and Hiccup wasn't really surprised when it ended up smacking his head with the branch due to its hyperactive movements. It stopped, looked at Hiccup, and jabbed a dot into the ground before it dropped the branch, looking quite proud of its work.

Hiccup stood, looking around at the maze that surrounded him in amazement. He looked around for a moment before stepping forward, but froze when the dragon bared its teeth, growling, its eyes constricted.

He glanced down, finding his foot on one of the 'drawing' lines. He glanced at the dragon, lifting his foot.

Its eyes dilated, and it released a purr, tilting its head a little.

He stepped on the drawing again. Its eyes constricted, growling.

He lifted his foot. Crooning.

He stepped down. Growling.

He lifted his foot, stepping over the line completely, and the dragon let out a happy croon that Hiccup couldn't help but smile at. He began stepping over the lines, beginning a complicated dance of of steps and twirls as he tried to find his way out of the maze without stepping on the lines. He kept his eyes on the drawing, a small smile of his face, feeling more free than he's ever been.

He froze when he felt a hot puff of breath against his neck, ruffling his hair.

He turned, facing the dragon. Its eyes were still dilated, and it purred curiously, tilting its head at Hiccup almost fondly. He tentatively raised a hand, but the dragon released a small growl, skeptical, though its eyes were still dilated. Hiccup pulled his hand back, and it stopped, staring back at him.

Hiccup looked at it for a moment before taking a deep breath.

He turned his head away, closing his eyes, and slowly extended a hand toward the dragon. It tilted its head as his hand came closer, and it looked at him for a moment.

Then it nuzzled its snout into Hiccup's hand.

Hardly believing it, Hiccup raised his head to look at the dragon. Its eyes were closed, almost like it liked the feel of his hand.

Then, slowly, they opened. The dragon stared back at him with calm dilated eyes, and it began crooning once again. Hiccup slowly slid his hand up the dragon's noise, feeling the soft, leathery scales before resting his hand on its head.

The Night Fury leaned forward, slightly nuzzling its nose against his cheek, continuing to croon.

* * *

**Yay, Hiccup and Toothless are friends! :)**

**Oh, and Astrid and Stormfly, too ;P**

**Okay, so this chapter mostly focused on Hiccup, but I_ am_ wanting to make Hiccup just as much of a main character as Astrid, so...**

**Okay, so I got at least four PMs asking me about my sources on Viking history, and I'm sorry, but I can't give you any website references because I'm doing it the old fashioned way. As I said before, the Viking Age is my favorite history subject, and I have about three books on Vikings. I'm using one book for this story, and it's an awesome book. It's simply called "Vikings," and it's got many, many things on Viking history and culture. It's even got a few exerts from Icelander Snorri Sturluson's writing. It's got some old runic writing, and some Norse writing so you can see the untranslated and runic versions, as well as the English versions, so... yeah, it's pretty awesome. But, as I said, I'm not using the internet, so I can't really give anybody references so... yeah.**


	6. The Zippleback

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

* * *

"And with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face; I was delicious."

Hiccup ignored Gobber's story, having heard it at least twenty times since he became his apprentice. They were currently in one of the watchtowers, having a bonfire. But, his attention was on his book, on his drawing of Toothless, one of many.

Toothless was probably a stupid name, especially considering he knew first hand that the Night Fury had perfectly healthy, sharp teeth, but it's what stuck.

He had stayed with Toothless until nightfall, bonding with him and learning things about him. So far, he's found that Toothless loves fish _(obviously)_, he loves drawing _(he continued to drag that branch around for quite a while after he and Hiccup shared their little moment)_, and he's quite playful _(he practically forced Hiccup to play several games with him after he became bored of drawing, even going so far as to tackle Hiccup to the ground and lightly bat at him with his claws in a mock wrestling match)_.

Toothless was almost like a small child, actually. He was very intelligent, yes, but he seemed to have the mindset of a child, as well as the playfulness and the innocence of one.

He wondered if all dragons were like that.

Hiccup returned his attention to his drawing, thinking of how the dragon worked. From what he's found, Toothless has three sets of wings, and that's counting the tail fins. The largest were on his back, and they were obviously used for flying. The medium sized wings were right below the main set at the very beginning of his tail, and Hiccup figured they were used for gliding. That would mean that the tail fins were used for agility in flight, such as steering and maneuvering, and Hiccup wondered how Toothless would be able to fly without the other tail fin.

If he could even fly at all.

Astrid's thoughts were focused on her dragon as well. After she had named Stormfly, the dragon had followed her around, squawking and chirping at the sound of her voice. She almost behaved in a manner similar to a child, with a healthy dose of playfulness and innocence. She also seemed quite eager to please Astrid, chirping happily every time Astrid complimented her on completing a task she had set up to test her out, such as bringing her a tree branch or removing the shield that had gotten stuck between the rocks.

She was also quite vain, Astrid had learned. Stormfly was a very beautiful dragon, and unfortunately, she knew it. Her dose of vanity was rather generous, though Astrid supposed that it was normal for her species.

While she was happy to be able to bond with Stormfly, Astrid was concerned with getting her into the air again. Obviously Stormfly wouldn't be able to use her left wing, not with that large tear in it. The way it flapped in the breeze made Astrid worry that it wouldn't be able to heal naturally.

Astrid shook her head a little, tuning back into the conversation. She had the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow to figure it out; although, she doubted she would be thinking about it too much in the arena.

"He must've passed the word on, because it wasn't until months later when another one took my leg."

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs said, "Like, if your mind was still in control of it, you could've killed the dragon on the inside by crushing his heart or something." Everyone gave him an odd look before simply turning their attention back to their own devices.

"I swear I'm so _angry_ right now," Snotlout said, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand _and_ your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my _face._"

Ruffnut and Astrid simultaneously lifted a brow at his little speech before sharing a look and a grin.

Hiccup gave Snotlout a tiny smirk, "Are you sure you wanna put your face in harm's way, Snotlout? It may end up looking even worse than it already does."

Snotlout gave a fake, irritated laugh before suddenly going silent, an annoyed smile on his face, "Aw, I _knew_ you cared about me, _baby cousin._"

He quickly ducked when Hiccup's steaming fish, still stabbed into the stick, went flying toward him. Luckily, he ducked in time, and the wasted food flew passed his head. Snotlout gave a smug grin, sticking his tongue out at Hiccup, who returned it with an irked expression before dulling out his face, giving Snotlout a stupid look.

Astrid and Ruffnut shared another glance, snorting a little, holding up their hands in an attempt to muffle their incoming laughter.

"_Enough._ Anyway, Snotlout, it's the wings and the tail ya really want," Gobber said, tearing off a piece of his turkey, "If it can't fly, it can't get away."

Astrid furrowed her brows in thought, slowly lowering her hand, a look of realization marring her face, and, if she had glanced over, she would see the same look on Hiccup's.

"A _downed_ dragon is a _dead_ dragon."

Okay, so Stormfly _definitely_ needed some help.

Gobber suddenly yawned, "Alright, I'm off to bed. You should be, too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"

"It's gonna be me," Tuffnut grinned, "It's my destiny. See?"

Astrid curled her lips a little at the tattoo Tuffnut showed off, quickly glancing away from it. She furrowed her brows at the sight of Hiccup's empty seat, darting her gaze around in an attempt to find him.

"Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo, it's a birthmark."

Astrid watched as Hiccup scurried down the stairs, following Gobber, her expression curious. She shook her head before returning to her seat, ignoring the questioning glance Ruffnut sent her way before she returned her attention back to her brother.

"Uh, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."

"Yes, it has, you've just never seen me from the left side before."

"It wasn't there yesterday. Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?"

Astrid picked at some of her fish, taking a few bites before holding some pieces up to Ruffnut. "Want some?"

She shrugged, grabbing the pieces of fish from her and stuffing them into her mouth. "Oh, hey, Astrid," She said through her chewing, her tone almost sounding like it was merely an afterthought rather than sincere, "Sorry for makin' fun of you in the ring today. It was just too good to pass up."

Astrid rolled her eyes at the tone, but gave a little grin. She knew Ruffnut simply found joking around and being rude or sarcastic ways of showing affection. She shrugged, taking another bite of fish, "Whatever."

Ruffnut suddenly snorted, her shoulders shaking in laughter. "But, oh my gods, the way you two had just _conveniently_ got all tangled up together."

Astrid tried to swipe at her with her fish, but Ruffnut simply ducked out of the way, hopping to the other side of the fire, laughing at Astrid's flustered face. "The way he just so _happened_ to fall on _top_ of you."

Astrid suddenly hopped up, waving her fish on a stick around in an attempt to appear threatening and failing miserably_ (Astrid could never appear threatening, no matter how hard she may try)_. Ruffnut let out a squeal, laughing as she sprinted down the spiraling stairs of the watchtower, Astrid chasing her, and the boys watched them go with a mixture of amused, confused, and curious looks on their faces.

"Ruff!" Astrid shouted, "He was being chased by a dragon and I got in the way!"

Ruffnut laughed loudly when she reached the bottom of the stairs, sprinting off. She looked over her shoulder to smirk at Astrid. "_You_ got in _his_ way? Freya, Astrid, you _naughty_ girl!"

Astrid let out a squeal of her own, though hers was angry, her face heating up. She tried to pick up her speed, screaming like a mad Nightmare as she chased Ruffnut through the village, holding her stick and fish above her head.

* * *

Sweat ran down Hiccup's forehead as he pumped the bellows, lighting the coals on the fire, and, when he was done, he grabbed some large pliers and poured the molten liquid into a mold.

Gobber came up behind him, lifting it up with a grunt, and Hiccup dumped the cup and pliers into a cold water bucket, hearing the loud hiss. He ducked under Gobber's arms and ran to a table of tools. This was normal for them; whenever Gobber noticed anything wrong with Hiccup, the man would drag him into the forge to talk.

"Ah, don't take it to heart, kid," Gobber said as he set the molder onto a large table with a hefty grunt, "It's his job to be tough on everyone." He separated the molder, revealing a new sword.

"I'm not everyone," Hiccup argued, holding up a wrench in his frustration. It wasn't his father that was truly bothering him _(though, it was bothering him **now**)_, but it's not like he could tell Gobber that he was overly curious about a wild dragon. That would not go over too well.

"But, it doesn't matter," Hiccup grumbled, setting down the wrench and grabbing some pliers, working them for a moment, "That guy is impossible to please." He suddenly tossed the pliers to Gobber, who caught them with ease and used them to lift the hot sword and carry it to the anvil.

"He just doesn't want to appear to be playing favorites," Gobber said.

"Oh, he's covered in that department, believe me," Hiccup muttered bitterly, quickly running over to the anvil and dusting it off, "If we didn't live in the same house, I wouldn't even know he was my father." He flicked off a small pebble just as Gobber slammed the sword onto the anvil, not reacting in the slightest despite the fact he had been leaning his face quite close to the flat rock in order to check for dust.

"Have you told 'em that?" Gobber asked as Hiccup removed his wooden hammer hand.

"Of course not," Hiccup muttered as he replaced the wooden hammer hand with a metal one, "We barely make eye contact."

Gobber used his hammer hand to beat out the sword while Hiccup twisted it with the handle.

"Well, he just wants you to do things the Viking way," Gobber said, "I mean, there's the _Viking_ way, and then there's _your_ way, and _your_ way makes grown men uncomfortable."

"Speaking of uncomfortable, I'd like to change the subject please," Hiccup said sardonically.

"Alright, how's it goin' with the ladies?" Gobber asked with a suggestive smirk.

Hiccup shot him a look, opening his mouth to speak, but stopped when the sound of squealing and laughter caught his attention, and he and Gobber glanced around in confusion.

* * *

Astrid panted as she came to a stop, grinning at the sight of Ruffnut, trapped between a barn that was blocked off by a few barrels and the forge. Ruffnut let out a squeal when she saw that there was no escape, but she was grinning quite broadly.

"Wow," She said, "You actually managed to catch me. Props to you, Astrid."

"Yeah, well..." Astrid stumbled over her words; she's never been good with threats, "I mean, what'd you _think_ was gonna happen?"

"Well, I dunno, Astrid." Oh, she did _not_ like Ruff's tone. "But I'm sure your _boyfriend_ might."

Astrid's face heated up even more than it already was; her face felt like it was sunburned. "Ruffnut!"

"That is if you're not-" She grinned wickedly.

"Ruff!"

"Too busy-"

"Ruffnut, _please!_"

"Okay, okay!" She held up her hands in surrender, but she was still grinning.

A small pause.

"Humping him!"

"RUFFNUT!"

Ruffnut laughed, dodging the thrown stick and fish as Astrid ran after her. She quickly kicked over one of the barn's barrels, causing Astrid to trip and fly over it. She landed face first, getting completely soaked by the water kept inside the barrel, causing her to sputter.

Ruffnut laughed. "Astrid, what did you _think_ was gonna happen?"

Astrid let out an annoyed grunt, attempting stand, but she slipped on the watery, muddy ground, falling back over with a shout, making Ruffnut laugh even harder.

"Ruffnut!"

"Astrid, don't worry," Ruffnut said in a placating tone, though her mischievous grin was still present, "I won't tell a soul about this. Then again... Tuff doesn't have a soul, so."

"Ruffnut!" Astrid shouted; geez, how many time has she shouted this girl's name in one night? She quickly stood, wanting to chase after Ruffnut again, but the girl was long gone, her laughter fading in the distance.

Astrid huffed, looking down at her muddy clothes; she was going to have to mix up her mother's special cleaning ingredients for this. She shook off as much mud as she could before walking around the side of the barn, glancing at forge, realizing that there was smoke and an orange glow coming from the fireplace. But... Gobber said he was going to bed...

"Astrid?"

Astrid's eyes widened, and she felt her face heat up again. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. He didn't _hear_ any of that, did he?

"Hiccup! Hi! Um... you didn't happen to hear...?"

Judging by the tiny smirk on his face, he did. Oh the gods _do_ hate her...

He simply shrugged, tilting his head a little, blinking his eyes in a teasing manner. "Why don't we just pretend I didn't?"

Astrid puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment. Yeah, pretending it didn't happen sounded like the best course of action to take. "Yeah, why don't we pretend you didn't? Uh..."

Silence.

What is _with_ all the awkward silences!?

She avoided Hiccup's amused eyes, pointing ahead with a strained smile. "Well, I should probably... you know, go wash up and... bye!"

She quickly sprinted off, trying to block out the chuckle she heard as she did. Her face felt like it was on fire.

_Why_ was he at the forge so late!? Why _Hiccup!? Why!?_

* * *

Hours later, Hiccup entered his small room at the back of the forge, beginning the project he had originally wanted to work on before Gobber had caught up with him.

The room was covered in drawings of weaponry, prosthetics, contraptions, and scale models. He lit a candle and laid his sketchbook on his desk, opening it to his drawing of Toothless. A look of determination plastered on his face, he picked up his charcoal and drew in Toothless' missing tail fin.

The creaking leather bellowed, tongs pulled intricate iron pieces from the coals before dropping them on the anvil. They're twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a cooling barrel. The pieces were carried to Hiccup's work bench and laid out on a one-to-one schematic; a sketch of a mechanical tail fin.

Hiccup pieced everything together, revealing the completed tail fin, looking exactly like Toothless' sketched one, and he folded it back up with a satisfied grin.

* * *

"Toothless," Hiccup grinned, trying to keep his tone innocent as the dragon sniffed at the air, crooning happily at the sight of the fish filled basket, "I brought breakfast. Hope you're hungry."

He kicked the basket of fish over with ease, and the dragon immediately dug in. Hiccup clutched the prosthetic tail fin closer, eyeing Toothless as he crept behind the dragon. "That's it; you just eat. I'll be back here… minding my own business…."

He knelt by the tail, speedily removing the gauze. The wound was healed, the only indication of any injury remaining being the slightly wrinkled looking skin. Hiccup tried to slide the prosthetic into place, but Toothless began flicking his tail back and forth like a cat the second the gauze had been removed, keeping his tail away every time Hiccup got near it.

"It's, it's okay," He muttered before hopping onto it to keep it still, but the dragon was much stronger than him, seeming to not notice his weight, dragging him back and forth with each wag of the tail. Toothless suddenly scooted up, digging his head into the basket of fish, dragging Hiccup forward with a startled sound. Hiccup huffed irritably, twisting around to straddle the tail, quickly working the prosthetic into place, not noticing the way the dragon froze at the feel of the leather.

He leaned back, examining his work, and looking quite pleased, not paying attention to the way the real tail fin began to flare out.

"There. Not too bad. It works."

Toothless suddenly bolted into the air, carrying Hiccup with him on his tail, and the boy let out a startled scream as they climbed high above the ravine.

"Whoa! WhoooooaaaaaaARGH! No, no, no, no, no, no AGH!"

He struggled to hold onto the tail. As the ground sped away, Toothless suddenly tipped into an uncontrolled bank and dive, and the two screamed together as they fell. Hiccup glanced up, seeing the prosthetic flail uselessly in the wind. Hiccup grabbed onto it and pulled it outward, and the flared appendage caught the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.

Toothless arched just short of the incoming tree tops, climbing into the air.

"Oh my- it's working!" Hiccup shouted excitedly, arching the tail fin towards the right, changing Toothless' directory until they reach the ravine, gliding over the stream.

"Yes! Yes, I did it!"

Toothless glanced back at him, his eyes taking on an expression of annoyance, and he turned sharply, sending Hiccup into the ravine, the boy landing painfully on the shallow stream. Toothless let out a screech when he fell into the lower ravine, the prosthetic useless without Hiccup. He shook off, struggling for a moment, but catching the top of the ravine with his claws and pushing upward.

He looked at Hiccup, cocking his head curiously when the boy grinned excitedly, raising his arms in a victory pose.

"YEAH!"

* * *

Astrid huffed as she walked into the cove, struggling under the weight of the full basket strapped to her back; in her arms, she carried a medium-sized box of medical supplies. She had stolen the basket of fish from the fish monger's home; it was really easy considering he was out on the voyage with all the other warriors, as well as the fact that he leaves all his fish baskets in front of his house instead of inside it. She could've sworn, though, that he was already missing a basket when she swiped hers. **[1]**

"Hey, Stormfly." The Nadder perked up at the sight of her, cocking her head curiously as she watched Astrid slide the basket straps off her shoulders, letting his the ground his a hard thunk.

Astrid knelt down, placing her medical box on the ground in front of her and opening it up. Stormfly walked up beside her, leaning down until her head was right next to Astrid's, tilting her head back and forth in the same manner as a bird, watching her as she took out a few items from the box and laid them out in front of her.

"Okay, Stormfly," Astrid started, and Stormfly let out a small noise at the sound of her name, "I've been thinking about your wing." Astrid worked on mixing a few herbs in a small cup as she spoke, grabbing an herb crusher to mash them with. "I seriously doubt it will be able to heal on its own, so I'm going to help it out."

Stormfly let out a curious snort, and Astrid set the cup of crushed herbs aside to grab some rolled up bandages, as well as a needle and thread.

"I'm going to help you fly again," Astrid said, holding up the needle and thread so Stormfly could sniff at them, "And this should do the trick."

Stormfly backed up slightly, giving Astrid enough room to stand. "Now," Astrid said as she walked up to Stormfly's damaged wing, examining it, "These are stitches, which means I'm going to be sewing you up, so it's going to hurt a little. But, if you stay still and let me do this, I've got a _whole_ basket of fish for you as a reward."

Stormfly let out a small chirp at her words before flaring out her damaged wing, allowing Astrid to work on it. She blinked a few times, tilting her head back and forth as she watched and felt Astrid work. First, the girl grabbed the small cup of freshly crushed herbs, spreading the medicine on each side of the split in the wing. Next, she used the stitches, sewing up the tear was closed and the skin of the wing stretched normally again. Finally, she spread some leftover herbs along some strips of the bandages, making them sticky; she used the now sticky bandages to cover the stitches, lying the bandages flat over the wound before dragging them under the wing and onto the other side, covering the back of the tear as well.

When she was finished, she used a scalpel to slice away the leftover bandages before rolling them back up. Stormfly squawked, cocking her head from side to side as she stared at her treated wing curiously. Astrid gave her a small smile before grabbing her supplies and replacing them back inside the medical box, and Stormfly gave her an impatient nuzzle, nearly knocking Astrid over in an attempt to urge the girl to give her, her reward.

"Okay, okay!" Astrid let out a little laugh at her impatience, standing up. "Geez…" She muttered before giving Stormfly a look. "Before I give you your reward, I want you to flap a little. See if you can get some air."

Stormfly snorted before glancing back at her wing. She spread them out, and Astrid watched the bandages closely to make sure they wouldn't fly off. Stormfly began flapping her wings, and she managed to gain some air, hovering a few feet above the ground. Astrid gave a little grin at the sight before Stormfly let herself drop, landing gracefully on her feet. She turned to Astrid, squawking happily, and Astrid smiled at her. "Good job. Your wing'll be better in no time. Now, for your reward," She said, walking over to the large basket of fish she had dragged into the cove. She struggled for a brief moment _(damn her lack of muscles!)_ before she managed to knock it over with her foot, spilling out all the fish. Astrid cringed at the sight, but Stormfly perked up, immediately walking toward her meal, nuzzling at the fish.

"Wow, that's… really gross. Anyway, I got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel."

Stormfly's eyes suddenly constricted and she jerkily backed up with a growl. Astrid gave her a confused look, bending down to grab the eel, and Stormfly jerked again, releasing a high-pitched, panic screech.

"No, no, no, no!" Astrid exclaimed, holding up her hands, one still holding the eel, in an attempt to placate her. She quickly chucked the eel away, speaking in a bit of a panicked manner; she did _not_ want to deal with a spooked dragon. "It's fine, it's fine! Yeah, I don't really like eel much, either..."

Stormfly snorted when the eel was thrown away, and Astrid watched her curiously as she turned her attention back to the fish, wiping away the eel slime on her wrappings.

"Wow," Astrid mumbled, "You really hate eel, huh…." Astrid looked back at the eel, lying innocently on the ground a few feet away. "I wonder…."

* * *

When Astrid entered the arena, she immediately searched out Ruffnut. She saw her standing next to her brother, as always, and quickly sprinted toward them. She wasn't strong, but she was able to use her momentum to push Ruffnut into Tuffnut.

"_That_ was for the mud bath," Astrid said, smiling proudly. Ruffnut snorted before letting out a few laughs, while Tuffnut simply glanced between them in confusion. Ruffnut glanced at Tuff before giving Astrid a smirk that made her falter.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," Ruff said, her tone false, "Hey, Tuff, did I ever tell you about-oof!"

Astrid quickly cut her off, trying to smother her mouth with her hands, but Ruff simply let out muffled laughs. Tuff rolled his eyes, losing interest in their scuffle and walking over to Snotlout.

"_Please_ don't tell, Ruff! _Anybody!_"

Astrid let out a squeak when she felt something slimy slide across her hand. "Ew!" She shouted, snatching her hands away, wiping Ruffnut's spit off on her leggings as the girl simply laughed.

She smirked, jerking her head in the direction ahead of them. "Not even _him_, Astrid?"

Astrid glanced in the direction she pointed out, flushing at the sight of Hiccup walking into the arena with Gobber next to him, carrying a few buckets.

Astrid shot Ruffnut a look, her face flustered.

"Okay, okay," Ruffnut smirked, holding up her hands in surrender, "I _promise_ I... _nah!_ Hey, Hiccup!"

"Ruffnut!" Astrid shouted, attempting to run after her as she sprinted toward Hiccup, who glanced up at the sound of his name. Astrid knew she wasn't going to be able to reach her in time; the only comforting thought she had was that Ruff didn't know that Hiccup had overhead them last night.

"Quiet down," Gobber said, causing Ruffnut to freeze just as she reached Hiccup's side, Astrid stopping next to Fishlegs. Gobber walked around the arena, shoving buckets of water into the recruits' hands.

"Um... What do we need these for?" Fishlegs asked hesitantly.

Gobber didn't answer; instead, he walked toward one of the cages, grabbing the handle and pushing it down, lifting the bar from the doors.

"Today is about teamwork."

The unbarred gates literally exploded open, sending a fog into the arena. The recruits backed up, holding their bucket of water close as the fog spread around them.

"A wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes the gas; the other head lights it. It's your job to figure out which is which."

Astrid and Fishlegs huddled together, their eyes desperately searching the fog for the dragon. Fishlegs began muttering information, something he always did when nervous.

"Razor sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims-"

"_Will you stop that?_" Astrid hissed, giving him an irritant look, her whole body tense.

Snotlout and Tuffnut huddled back-to-back, twisting around to look into the fog.

"If that dragon shows _either_ of its faces..." Snotlout muttered before a shadow within the fog caught his attention. "There!"

He and Tuffnut tossed their water towards it, and a masculine and feminine shout was heard. Hiccup and Ruffnut walked into their line of sight, their faces irked.

"It's _us,_ idiots," Ruffnut grumbled.

Tuffnut smirked, "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were dragons."

Snotlout shot his glaring cousin a nervous look, having been on the bad side of his temper way too many times before. "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque fig-"

He was cut off when Hiccup gave him a hard, loud punch to the face, sending him to the ground. Ruffnut retaliated as well, chucking her water bucket directly at Tuffnut's face, knocking him onto his back. He sat up with a dazed look before he was suddenly pulled into the fog with a shout.

Ruffnut let a concerned look mar her face, attempting to walk forward, but Hiccup blocked her by holding up an arm.

"Wait."

A small pause.

Suddenly, a tail swiped their feet, knocking them to the ground, causing Hiccup to drop and spill his water bucket, and Tuffnut came scrambling out of the fog, practically running over Ruffnut. Astrid and Fishlegs quickly stepped to the side as Tuffnut ran passed them, shouting loudly.

"Oh! Ohh! I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into the single digits now..." Fishlegs said nervously, and Astrid shot him another look.

Suddenly, a snake-like head emerged from the fog, twisting around, cornering a panicked Fishlegs before stopping directly in front of him. He quickly dumped his water on the head, and the dragon narrowed its eyes irritantly, opening its mouth to let a fog of green gas puff out of it.

"Oh," Fishlegs grinned nervously, "Wrong head."

The dragon suddenly screeched, shooting gas at him rather violently, and Gobber stepped forward in concern.

"Fishlegs!"

Fishlegs scrambled away, his arms in the air in a panic, screaming. Astrid stepped to the side to avoid being rammed into, causing her to nearly run into the second head. She glanced between the two heads nervously, tightly clutching her water bucket.

"Now, Astrid!"

She threw the water up, and it shot into the air, arching toward the ground seconds before reaching the sparking head. The two heads glanced at the now wet ground before looking up at Astrid, and she could've sworn they were grinning.

"Oh, come_ on,_" She moaned, and one of the heads suddenly knocked her over, both of them growling, a rattling sound escaping them, spreading their wings for intimidation.

"Astrid!" Gobber shouted, running forward a bit to help, but he froze at the sight that greeted him as the fog finally dissipated completely.

The dragon was jerking away from Astrid nervously, and Astrid held out her hands as she stood, giving it orders.

"Back. Back! _Back!_"

Hiccup stepped forward a bit, his eyes narrowed in both confusion and suspicion. Around him, Ruffnut and Tuffnut adjust their helmets, Fishlegs clutched his bucket tightly, and Snotlout shook off the dazed state Hiccup's punch had put him in; their faces slackened in awe as they watched Astrid scare away the Zippleback.

"Don't you make me tell you again!"

In the stands, Gothi narrowed her eyes a little, watching Astrid closely. **[2]**

"That's _right! Back_ in your cage!"

The dragon scrambled against the wall, its necks locking together in its panic. Astrid glanced to the side, making sure no one saw her, and she reached under one of her shoulder pads, removing a rolled up eel she had stuffed in there before leaving the cove. The dragon's four eyes widened even more at the actual sight of it. **[3]**

"Now think about what you've done," Astrid mumbled, tossing the eel into the cage, and the dragon let out a panicked snort, its back legs literally on the wall as it tried to scramble away from the eel as best as it could.

Astrid quickly shut the cage door, wiping off the eel slime on her wrappings. She turned, freezing, her brows lifting in surprise at the sight of everyone staring at her.

Fishlegs dropped his bucket.

"Okay, so, are we done here?" Astrid said. She tried to appear confident, but she stumbled over her words; she's never been the best liar. "Cause I have some things I need to, uh... bye! See you tomorrow!"

She quickly scrambled away, and Hiccup's gaze followed her retreating form until she disappeared from his sight.

* * *

**Uh oh, Astrid's suddenly good... ;)**

**Did you like my Ruffnut and Astrid moment? I got some inspiration for it after reading a few other fanfiction stories with some Ruff and Astrid interaction :)**

**1) **_Okay, just in case people didn't catch that, when Astrid went to go swipe a basket of fish at the fish monger's home, she notices that he already seems to be missing a basket, which is the basket that Hiccup stole._

**2) **_In previous chapters, I mentioned that the only people remaining in the village are the recruits, the elderly, and the young children; everyone else is on the voyage. So, the canon scenes that depict more and more people coming to watch Hiccup in the arena never happen here. The only one that comes to watch Astrid is Elder Gothi up until the part where Stoick and the rest of the voyagers return._

**3) **_Don't think that makes sense? Think the eel should've fallen out? Well, in canon, Hiccup only had the eel resting on his shoulder, covered by his vest. That should've fallen out as well._


	7. How To Train Your Dragon

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**The montage will be broken up with a [SCENE]**

* * *

Hiccup carefully twined the thin rope, curving it through the tiny hole and tying it in a knot so it wouldn't fall off. He tied another knot before holding it up, revealing the scale he had kept, turned into a necklace, and he grinned.

He then turned his attention to his next project. He cut and stitched leather, hammered it out, and drew and shaped steel.

When he was finished, he laid his work out before him, wiping off a few specks of dust; he had made a saddle.

[SCENE]

Hiccup proudly held up the saddle before Toothless, and the dragon hopped into a crouch, and playful noise escaping him. He wiggled for a brief moment before he ran off.

"Hey!" Hiccup shouted, giving chase.

Toothless released what sounded like a laugh, cocking his head toward Hiccup teasingly as he ran.

It took about two hours, but Hiccup_ did_ manage to get the saddle on him.

[SCENE]

Hiccup clutched the handle of the saddle as Toothless glided above the stream of the ravine. He glanced back at the prosthetic tail fin, held open by a string Hiccup was hanging onto.

In an attempt to steer, Hiccup pulled the string to the right, but Toothless' tail jerked, causing their direction to falter, and Hiccup and Toothless let out a shout as they fell.

Hiccup flew right over Toothless' head, landing face first in the shallow stream.

[SCENE]

That night, Hiccup went back to the forge, adding a few pieces of iron and steel to the saddle. He used more leather, sewing it up until it resembled a large belt with two strings of leather hanging off of it.

Hiccup grabbed one of the strings, hooking the circular piece of metal at the end into one of the added metal pieces of the saddle.

He shook the saddle, testing out his new harness, and gave a proud grin.

[SCENE]

Toothless let out a roar as he and Hiccup flew high above the ravine trees. Hiccup let one of his feet hang off of Toothless, a rope tied around his ankle.

Hiccup clutched the saddle tightly, keeping his eyes on the prosthetic fin as he attempted to steer with the foot with the rope, letting out a few strained grunts.

He pulled on the rope with his foot, and the prosthetic flared out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoaAHH!"

Toothless lost his balance, letting out a shout along with Hiccup as they fell into the trees. Hiccup's harness slid out of place, causing him to fall off of the dragon.

He landed stomach-first on a tree branch, and he quickly scrambled to wrap his arms around it so he wouldn't fall. He glanced down, catching sight of Toothless, who was looking up at him from the ground.

The dragon was on his back, his feet curled close to him, staring at up Hiccup in irritation.

Hiccup only shrugged.

[SCENE]

"Go, Stormfly!" Astrid shouted in encouragement as the Nadder attempted to get some air time. Astrid ran after her as she flew high above the cove, toward the grassy field above.

Astrid gasped when Stormfly lost her balance, falling into the field with a squawk, disappearing from sight. She picked up her speed, spreading the long pieces of grass aside as she attempted to find the dragon.

"Stormfly! Are you-" Astrid stopped short at the sight before her, raising a questioning eyebrow.

The Nadder was releasing purring grumbles, rolling around in the grass like a dog, a look of pure bliss on her face.

Astrid picked a few pieces of the grass, looking down at them in thoughtful wonder.

[SCENE]

Astrid held up the grass, looking at it for a moment as the Gronkle head-butted Tuffnut, who flew back with a shout.

It suddenly turned its attention on her, and it quickly sped towards her.

Astrid cringed, glancing at the grass briefly before turning away, holding out the hand filled with grass, squeezing her eyes shut.

The Gronkle's eyes widened at the sight of the grass, letting itself slide along the ground before coming to a stop right in front of her. Astrid looked at it; its nostrils flared out, its eyes dilated, and it let its tongue roll out like a dog.

Astrid quickly began scratching the grass along the Gronkle's snout, and the dragon released a blissful sound, kicking its leg like a happy dog before turning over onto its side.

In the stands, Elder Gothi narrowed her eyes.

[SCENE]

The recruits quickly swarmed Astrid as they walked along the wooden bridge that led away from the arena. Their voices jumbled together as they tried to ask Astrid about the Gronkle; Hiccup followed from behind, the only quiet one.

"Ah, I," Astrid stuttered, "Left my axe back in the ring, so..."

She quickly twisted around, nearly colliding with Hiccup as she began running back to where they came from.

Hiccup stepped forward a little, glaring in suspicion.

[SCENE]

That night, Hiccup grinned a little as he watched Toothless. The boy had started a small bonfire in the ravine, and the dragon hopped onto his hind legs, releasing a few happy grunts, tilting his head curiously as he used his front legs to bat at a runaway ember. **[1]**

Hiccup used his axe to swipe at the fire, releasing more embers into the air, and Toothless crooned, falling back onto all fours. He cocked his head, his eyes wide, smiling as he hopped around, trying to catch all the embers at once.

Hiccup grinned as he watched, leaning back onto his arms.

His time with Toothless was the one time he was free of all stress, and he liked that.

[SCENE]

In the cove, Astrid stood next to Stormfly, smiling as she scratched her, and the dragon arched into the touch, purring. The bandages on Stormfly's wing had been removed, and the stitches looked much healthier than before; Astrid was certain that she would be able to remove them soon.

Astrid moved her hands around, catching Stormfly under the chin, and her eyes suddenly dilated and she went down in a heap.

Astrid looked at her; Stormfly groaned, looking quite blissful.

Astrid gave held up her hands, looking at them in amazement.

[SCENE]

Hiccup tossed his axe at the dark blue Nadder, and it head-butted it to the side, running after him. He ducked to the side, revealing Astrid behind him.

She cringed, dropping her mace, flinching back as the Nadder suddenly stopped, giving her a confused look.

Hearing a war cry, they both turned, catching sight of Hiccup, his axe above his head, running after the Nadder. Astrid blinked, confused; he was holding his axe sideways, so the flat portion would smack the Nadder rather than the sharp end. She blinked again, the moment finally catching up with her.

Astrid let a panicked expression cross her face before scratching along the Nadder's neck, quickly moving her hand down under its chin. Just like Stormfly, its eyes dilated before it went down in a heap right before Hiccup swung.

He gave the Nadder a confused look, panting, dropping his axe limply against his shoulder as he stared at Astrid.

[SCENE]

Astrid entered the Great Hall, walking passed the recruits' table instead of trying to take a seat. She really just wanted some time alone; she wants to be able to concentrate on Stormfly, believing the dragon would be able to have her stitches removed soon, but afraid that the weakened skin would rip easily.

She took a seat on the table next to them, and the recruits, minus Hiccup, immediately flocked toward her, their voices mingling together.

Hiccup's face fell into one of annoyance, and he smacked his cup onto the table as he turned away.

[SCENE]

Toothless purred curiously, his ear plates twitching, his head and eyes following Hiccup as the boy paced in front of him in an angry manner, his axe clutched tightly in his hand.

"I mean, I don't want to _hurt_ the dragons. Especially not after meeting you. I just figured I could, you know, knock 'em out or incapacitate them or _something,_ but not _hurt_ them. But _she_ keeps getting in the way!"

Hiccup released a frustrated sigh, letting himself fall next to Toothless, dropping his axe next to him, and the dragon released a small croon. Hiccup patted his head a little. "I mean, I don't _wanna_ be jealous, but I can't help it," He said.

Toothless cocked his head as Hiccup lowered his eyes a little, his tone resigned, "This is the _one_ chance I had to prove myself to my dad. But she's _taking it away._"

Hiccup sighed in frustration again, holding his head in his hands. Toothless crooned comfortingly, nuzzling his snout into the back of Hiccup's hands, and the boy sighed again, lifting his head.

He gave Toothless a small pat on the head, smiling a little, "You wanna try flying again?"

Toothless gave a happy grunt.

[SCENE]

Astrid held up her stitching needle, letting the sun reflect off of it, creating a tiny dot of light on the ground. Stormfly followed the dot curiously, cocking her head from side to side, releasing a few chirps as she kept her gaze on the light.

Astrid grinned as she watched her waddle around, glancing at her wing. The stitches were gone, but the flesh of the wing was wrinkled. Stormfly will have to wait a little while before she tries flying again; Astrid didn't want the weakened skin tearing again.

[SCENE]

"Meet the Terrible Terror!"

The cage unbarred, but only a tiny slot on the bottom of the door flicked open. The dragon was tiny, its eyes extremely wide. It suddenly flicked out a tongue, catching its eye in a manner very similar to a gecko.

"Ha!" Tuffnut grinned, "It's like the size of my-"

He was cut off when the Terror suddenly flew at him, catching his face, knocking him to the ground.

"AGH! GET IT OFF!"

The Terror chewed at his nose, but its attention was suddenly drawn to a ball of light on the ground, and it climbed off of him. Tuffnut rolled over, clutching his nose, shouting.

"Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

The Terror twisted around as it tried to catch the light, releasing a few curious squeaks. Astrid used the metal center of her shield to reflect off the sun, leading it toward the cage with the ball of light

"Wow," Tuffnut said as the recruits watched Astrid, rubbing his red nose, "She's better than you _ever_ were."

Hiccup shot him an annoyed look.

The Terror crawled back into its cage, and Astrid looked behind her at the recruits, giving a tiny smile.

[SCENE]

Hiccup, in his frustration, violently threw his axe at the trees. It embedded each time, the throw becoming more and more violent as he went.

After the fourth throw, he snatched his axe free, jumping into a tumble before he shot up right, his axe ready to throw, but he froze.

Astrid stood in front of him, clutching her medic box, staring at his new harness curiously; he had redesigned it after he continuously fell off of Toothless, and now it created an 'X' over his tunic, making it much more noticeable than just the belt.

She jumped when she caught his eye before cringing and walking off.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes before he followed her as she moved into a jog, running behind a rock. He looked over the rock, but she was gone. Frustrated, he slapped his fist against the rock.

He shook his head, snorting a little in his anger before walking back to the trees, picking up Toothless' new saddle before running in the opposite direction of Astrid.

[SCENE]

Toothless released a few happy noises, his head stuffed inside a basket of fish. He ignored the tugging he felt from Hiccup as the boy attached a new rope to his prosthetic, dragging it back. The prosthetic flared with the movement of the rope, and Hiccup dragged it through a few slots in the saddle.

He stepped back admiring his work. He had managed to change the saddle stirrups into a pedal and pulley system. He had gotten the idea after looking at a few mast designs for their longboats, and he was confident it would work this time.

[SCENE]

Toothless glanced up at Hiccup for a brief moment as they hovered in the air, using the wind to their advantage. Hiccup had tied some spare rope to Toothless' saddle, and he tied the other end of the rope around a tree stump, keeping them from flying off.

Hiccup looked back at the prosthetic, glancing down at the stirrup pedal for a brief moment. He pressed his foot down, hearing the click, and the prosthetic flared out, letting Toothless gracefully drop the the ground on his feet.

He and Hiccup shared a triumphant look before the boy grabbed his charcoal stick. He used it draw on the small piece of parchment hooked to the saddle; inscribed upon it were several tail positions and their pedal position equivalents. When Hiccup finished drawing the current position, Toothless flared out his wings to let the wind pick them up again.

The wind grew stronger, however, and the rope snapped, causing the two to fly backwards with startled shouts, crashing to the ground. Toothless grunted, rolling onto his feet, and Hiccup released a surprised noise when he was dragged up a little with Toothless' movements.

He looked at the saddle, finding one of the metal pieces to be dented downward, trapping his harness in place.

"Oh, great," He groaned irritably, tugging at the harness strings.

* * *

Hiccup poked his head around one of the village buildings, looking around to make sure nobody would see him. Toothless suddenly poked his head out as well, his curious eyes glancing around the village.

The last thing he needed was to get caught.

Hiccup forcefully tugged on the attached harness string, dragging Toothless toward the forge. He looked around, making sure no one was inside before he let Toothless in. Toothless curiously looked around, sticking his head into a bucket and tossing it aside.

Astrid, inside the medic hut, digging around the shelves, jerked her head up at the sound of a crash. She looked out the window, her gaze drawn to the forge. She hopped out of the window, running toward the smithy.

Hiccup grabbed a metal file and stuck it under the dented circlet of the saddle, attempting to pry it open.

"Hiccup? Are you in there?"

Hiccup glanced up, sharing a panicked look with Toothless.

Astrid walked closer to the forge, jumping when the wooden windows suddenly opened up and Hiccup hopped through.

"Astrid!" He grinned, his tone a little off, "Hey! Hi, Astrid! Hi... Astrid! Hi, Astrid!"

Inside the hut, Toothless caught sight of a sheep, his head cocking to the side. The sheep saw him, its eyes widening, its jaws dropping, releasing the grass it had been munching on.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Are you... okay? You're acting weird."

Hiccup was suddenly jerked backward by his harness, and he let out a startled noise. He recovered rather quickly, giving Astrid a strained grin.

Astrid stared at him, her eyes wide. Now she was completely weirded out. "Well... okay, now you're acting _really_ weird."

Astrid's eyes widened when Hiccup was suddenly pulled against the window so tightly that he was actually lifted into the air. He gave another strained grin before he was suddenly pulled into the forge, the windows snapping shut.

Astrid jumped a little, quickly opening up the windows, looking inside, but Hiccup was nowhere to be found.

As she looked inside the hut, Hiccup and Toothless quickly sprinted behind her before running up one of the village trails and taking to the air.

Astrid shook her head. "That was..._ really weird..._" She mumbled before she walked back to the medic hut. She poked her head inside, smiling.

"C'mon, Stormfly," She said quietly, and Stormfly let out a quiet chirp, walking up to her. The weakened skin on Stormfly's wing had ripped, but only slightly, and Astrid decided to take her to the medic hut so she could take care of it real quick instead of putting it off.

Astrid gave her another smile before grabbing the rope she was using as a leash to lead Stormfly toward the forest to head back to the cove.

Astrid paused, glancing around, making sure no one would see them.

The last thing she needed was to get caught.

* * *

**Oh, they were _so_ close...! ;)**

**Okay, so not only was this chapter _incredibly_ short, but I'm also alone for the rest of the day and have nothing better to do, so I may upload another chapter today, so keep an eye out just in case.**

**1) **_I got the idea of Toothless playing with embers from one of the httyd2 clips, which is called "Eret," or "Son of Eret." You should watch it; Ruffnut's hilarious, and Toothless and Stormfly are totally cute :)_

**And, as I said before, the only person in the stands is Elder Gothi, so when you imagine these scenes, try not to imagine anyone else in the stands, so... yeah.**

**Also, does anyone know if Eret and his little minions are Sami? The way they dress makes me think they are.**


	8. Test Drive

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

* * *

Gobber watched as the battered ships pulled into port. He waited until Stoick had hopped onto the boardwalk before making his way toward the man.

"What happened to the other ships?" Gobber asked.

"You don't wanna know," Spitelout muttered as he walked by.

"Well, I trust you found the Nest, at least."

"Not even close," Stoick grumbled before shooting Gobber a look, "How's Hiccup been doing?"

"Oh, fine, fine," Gobber shrugged casually. He kept his eyes ahead of him as he continued, resisting the urge to watch his friend's face morph into complete shock when he gives him the good news. "Yes, he's one of the top students in the class, actually."

Gobber was jerked around to face Stoick when the man placed a hand on his shoulder, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the incredulous expression on the redhead's face. "_Hiccup?_"

"Aye, _Hiccup._ I _told_ you the boy had a way with an axe. He's been handling himself _brilliantly._"

_Quite_ brilliantly, actually. He knew the boy was smart, especially when it came to battle tactics, and Gobber had to resist the urge to rub it in Stoick's face.

Gobber glanced to the side, catching sight of Cnut and Thora walking down the docks, their travel sacks thrown over their shoulders. Oh, he'll enjoy the look on Cnut's face, alright...

Stoick blinked at the news, glancing ahead and keeping his gaze in the distance. He stopped for a moment, running a hand through his beard thoughtfully before walking off with a grumbling, "Hmmmm..."

Gobber let himself roll his eyes when his friend was out of sight. Hopefully, Stoick will see past Hiccup's similarities to Valka once he sees how well Hiccup handles himself in the ring. Maybe he and the boy will have an actual conversation.

Gobber blinked at the thought before he let a snort escape his lips. Nah.

Gobber turned his attention to Thora and Cnut when they finally reached his person, and he gave them a large grin.

"Ah, there's our celebrity parents."

"Celebrity?" Thora blinked.

"Oh, yes," Gobber nodded flippantly, "Astrid's been handling herself quite well in the ring. She and Hiccup are neck-in-neck as it is. She runs off sometimes, probably to escape her new fans. Oh, a life of a celebrity can be pretty rough. Perhaps Hiccup's been teaching her; he disappears quite often himself, now that I think about it..."

"Astrid and Hiccup...?" Thora smiled, and Gobber saw a glint in her eyes that made him regret even speaking Hiccup's name.

"_Astrid_ tying with _Hiccup?_" Cnut blinked.

"Aye. She has a... _way_ with the beasts."

* * *

Hiccup squinted his eyes as he and Toothless glided high in the air. "Okay," Hiccup patted Toothless a little, "We're gonna take this nice and slow." They flew out toward the ocean, and Hiccup glanced down at the cheat sheet. "Okay... position... three...? No, four." He pushed down on the pedal, and the tail fin flared. Toothless glanced back at it before facing forward, narrowing his eyes in determination. He arced in the air, hovering sideways as he curved around in a wide turn.

Hiccup looked behind him at the prosthetic tail for a moment, watching as it blew around in the wind, but stayed flared out perfectly. "Okay," He murmured, "It's go time..."

Toothless dived down, grazing the water, and Hiccup looked up as they passed under a rock formation, watching as seagulls flew far above them.

"Yes, it worked!" Hiccup grinned. He attempted to steer Toothless to the side, but they ended up crashing into a rock formation, and Toothless let out an annoyed grunt, quickly flapping his wings to get away from it.

"Sorry!"

Toothless snorted. Hiccup tried to steer him away, but they bashed into another rock formation, and this time Toothless growled.

"That's my fault!"

Toothless snorted again, flicking one of his ear plates upward, slapping Hiccup right in the face. Hiccup sputtered, shaking his head a little before he gave Toothless a little glare. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" He glanced back down at the cheat sheet. "Position four... no, three."

Hiccup pressed down on the pedal, and Toothless immediately arced upward, letting out a little roar as they dove upward into the sky.

"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered as they climbed higher and higher into the sky, "Go, baby! Oh, this is amazing- MY CHEAT SHEET!"

The cheat sheet unhooked from the saddle in the wind, blowing upward, and Hiccup scrambled to grab it.

"STOP!"

Toothless stopped flapping his wings, glancing at him in confusion. The dragon's eyes widened when the momentum caused Hiccup to float upward, his harness unhooking, and the two shared a panicked look before they suddenly began plummeting.

Hiccup flailed around to grab a hold of the saddle while holding onto the cheat sheet at the same time. "Oh, gosh! Oh, gods! Oh, no! Alright, you gotta, gotta angle yourself! Okay, no, no, no! Come back down towards me! Come back down-OW!"

Hiccup clutched his face where the flailing tail had smacked him before he shook his head, sticking the cheat sheet into his mouth so both his hands were free. He desperately reached out his hands, finally grabbing a hold of the saddle, and he pulled himself down, quickly hooking his harness back into place.

Toothless twisted around, facing forward, and Hiccup let out a muffled scream through the cheat sheet as they speedily descended toward a maze of rock formations. Toothless spread his wings, attempting to slow down, and he let out a scream of his own when he realized it wasn't helping.

Hiccup snatched up the cheat sheet, trying to read it, but it was whipping around in the wind, making it impossible. He glanced back and forth between the sheet and the speedily approaching maze in a panicked manner before he simply tossed it away.

He leaned forward on Toothless, determination on his face, pressing down on the peddle. The tail fin flicked outward, and Toothless pressed forward, taking on a look of determination of his own.

Toothless and Hiccup sped through the maze, moving in sync, with intuition, expertly dodging rocks, birds, and tiny dragons alike. Hiccup pressed down on the pedal, testing out different movements, and Toothless flipped and whirled around through each one, managing a tight, hair-raising series of split second turns.

They eventually cleared the maze, making it to the open water unscathed, and Toothless curved up when they came upon the clear sky. He climbed higher and higher into the air, and Hiccup grinned when he looked down.

They were gliding peacefully over the ocean, and Hiccup could see the entire island of Berk from where they were.

Hiccup threw his arms up in a victory pose. "YEAH!"

Toothless let out a cheer of his own, absentmindedly tossing out a plasma blast. It exploded into a ball of fire directly in front of them, and Hiccup dropped his arms, his expression flat. He glanced down at Toothless; the dragon's eyes were close, and he had a large smile on his face.

"_Really...?_"

* * *

Astrid smiled as she watched Stormfly. She had removed all her bandages and stitching, and the scales no longer appeared wrinkled. The Nadder was chirping happily, flapping her wings as she glided and hopped around the cove.

Astrid clapped a little, and Stormfly gave what appeared to be a smile, squawking cheerfully as she landed next to Astrid. She nuzzled her snout into her shoulder, and Astrid grinned a little, giving her a small pat.

"I'm glad I got you flying again..." She murmured, and Stormfly gave her an answering squawk.

The two suddenly glanced up, turning their attention to the billowing smoke hovering into the sky. Astrid furrowed her brows a little; the smoke appeared to be coming from the village, which must mean they were having one of their large bonfires. Astrid doesn't understand why; the sky was still blue and the sun hung up ahead quite brightly. She paused for a moment; the only time they have bonfires during the day was when the party goers knew that the event would last well into the night, and that only happened when they were celebrating something.

The voyage must have returned.

Astrid gave Stormfly another pat, "Okay, girl, I have to go, alright?"

Stormfly gave an understanding chirp, and Astrid gave her one final pat. "Okay, I'll be back tomorrow and we can test out your flying skills, alright?"

Stormfly squawked again, and Astrid quickly sprinted out of the cove.

* * *

Astrid sprinted through the village, ignoring the stares that ranged from disbelief, questioning, and proud. She smiled when she caught sight of her parents, standing next to Gobber and Stoick by the large bonfire in the middle of the plaza.

"Mom, Dad," She exclaimed, "You're back!"

Thora smiled, opening her arms of for Astrid to give her a 'welcome back' hug. "Astrid, we are so proud."

Astrid furrowed her brows, smiling in confusion. "Um... proud?"

"Yes," Thora said, sharing quick looks with Cnut and Gobber, "We've heard about your accomplishments in the ring. I can't believe it!"

"Yeah..." Astrid smiled hesitantly, her voice flattening, "Me either..."

"And don't worry, Astrid," Cnut grinned, "Even if you lose to Hiccup tomorrow, it doesn't change a thing. You've really proved yourself. Maybe you'll be fighting alongside me during a Raid one day." He and Gobber shared a quick chuckle.

"Yeah..." Astrid mumbled as her parents began talking excitedly to each other and to Gobber about her joining them in the Raids, "Can't wait..."

Her parents were proud of her, and her shoulders slumped when she realized that what they were proud of was a lie. She wasn't some amazing warrior, she was just using small tricks she had learned from Stormfly.

She glanced back up at her excited parents, amazed at how quickly she could change her mind.

She didn't want to kill a dragon.

* * *

Hiccup rested against Toothless, watching the sunset. Toothless was curled up behind him, picking at the pile of fish in front of him. Hiccup held his own fish above a fire, a pursing his lips.

His face was covered in soot, and his hair was burnt, forced backward in windswept spikes.

He had noticed the smoke coming from the village hours ago, and knew that his father had returned, but he didn't want to head back. He had finally achieved his dream, something that people had told him he was crazy for, and he didn't want to stop yet.

He flew.

He actually flew.

Hiccup let a small grin appear on his face. Ever since he was little and had discovered dragons, he had wanted to be able to see what they saw. He wanted to soar through the skies, see the world through a dragon's eyes.

And he did.

And it was amazing.

Hiccup furrowed his brows at the sound of gagging, glancing over in time to see Toothless spit out a regurgitated fish head. The dragon looked up at him with a large smile, and Hiccup kept himself from cringing.

He held up his smoked fish, "No thank you, I'm good."

Toothless shook his head, and Hiccup took it as a shrug as the dragon went back to his own food. They glanced up at the sound of squawking, catching sight of a small flock of Terrible Terrors flying toward them, landing, and walking up to them. Toothless let out warning growls, using his front feet to pull his fish closer to him. One of the Terrors quickly snatched the fish head up, dragging it back with it to munch on. The one next to it tried to snatch it, but the thief snapped at it. The argument ended when one spewed fire at its annoyance.

A fish in Toothless' pile suddenly stood up straight, earning a surprised look from the Night Fury. When it was revealed to simply be a Terror trying to drag the fish away, Toothless snorted, snatching the fish from it and swallowing it whole. He let out a mocking noise, reverberating from the back of his throat.

Hiccup watched in amusement as the Terror growled, pawing at the ground as it prepared its fire, the hiss of the gas resounding. Toothless snorted, a bored look in his eyes, shooting a tiny blast of fire into the Terror's mouth. Its belly expanded with the fire before it puffed out with an odd squeak, smoking blowing out of its mouth. It dazedly stood, dizzily walking away.

"Not so fireproof on the inside, huh?" Hiccup grinned before snatching a fish from Toothless' pile, earning an irritable look, tossing it to the Terror, "Here you go."

The Terror stared at the fish in surprise for a brief moment before it snatched it up, its neck expanding as it swallowed the fish whole. It looked up at Hiccup, taking a few steps before pausing. It walked the rest of the way, nudging his arm with its snout so it could curl up next to him.

Hiccup stared at it in surprise before slowly lowering his arm, letting a hand rest on the tiny, snoozing dragon. He glanced around, watching the Terrors munch on the regurgitated fish before looking at Toothless, who crooned at him curiously.

Hiccup gave him a weak grin. "We're wrong about you, ya know," He murmured, "All wrong."

Toothless purred at him, and Hiccup gave him a small pat on the head. "You wanna fly again?"

Toothless let out a happy bark before standing up, startling the Terror next to Hiccup awake. It squawked curiously as Hiccup stood, hopping back onto Toothless' saddle.

It watched them as they zoomed into the air, and Hiccup glanced back when they were high in the sky, grinning a little at the sight of the flock of Terrors following them.

Hiccup let out an elated shout went he and Toothless shot upward, climbing above the clouds. He looked around, seeing the very tips of mountains peaking through the fluff.

"C'mon! Let's see what you've got!"

Toothless roared, folding in his wings and sharply diving down, following the length of one of the mountains. "Whooohooo!" Hiccup cheered, and he glanced back, catching sight of the Terrors attempting to catch up with them despite their speed.

Hiccup looked ahead again, adjusting the pedal, and Toothless spread his wings seconds before they hit the water, and they sped across it. "Yeah!" Hiccup shouted happily, watching the water arc slightly with their speed.

Hiccup glanced up, catching sight of on oncoming rock formation, which curved into an arch, almost like a bridge. He glanced down at Toothless. "You wanna try?"

Toothless grunted, and Hiccup hopped, his feet landing on the saddle. Toothless' prosthetic immediately snapped shut without Hiccup's help, and Toothless flapped his wings awkwardly in an attempt to stay aloft long enough. Hiccup crouched as they reached the rock formation before jumping over the arch, Toothless zooming under.

He landed on Toothless a little less than gracefully before hooking his foot back into the pedal, flaring out the tail fin. He and Toothless shared a satisfied look, and Hiccup glanced to the side, seeing the Terror flock flying next to them, squawking curiously.

Hiccup grinned as they flew off, giving a small cheer. "Yes! I can't believe we actually did it!"

* * *

Hiccup sighed through his nose in boredom that night, his head resting on his arms on his desk. He was flicking his charcoal back and forth, surrounded by drawings of his flight suit, Toothless' prosthetic, as well a sword. **[1]**

The sword was something he had been working on for a while; he wanted something that could intimidate. His design made the sword retractable, and it had a built in lighter as well. Now he just needed a way to make it flammable without it actually melting...

The charcoal was flicked too far to the side, and Hiccup stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and putting back into place to flick it again. He was stuck on what to do; on one hand, he wanted to win, because he wanted more than anything to win his father's respect, but he didn't want to kill a dragon, which is exactly what he would have to do should he win. On the other hand, he didn't want to lose, because his father would be disappointed, and Astrid would probably get mauled by a Monstrous Nightmare, and that was something he most definitely did _not_ want.

The charcoal was flicked too far to the sighed again, and Hiccup sighed through his nose again, following it with his eyes.

He jumped when he caught sight of his father standing in the doorway.

"Dad!" He exclaimed, hastily trying to hide the drawings of Toothless as his father squeezed into the room, barely fitting through the door, "You're back! Um... Gobber's not here, so..."

"I know. I came to see you."

"You did?" Hiccup muttered in surprise, leaning against his desk in an attempt to hide his drawings, quickly snapping his leather book closed, and Stoick nodded.

"Yes, I heard some news today," Stoick said.

"News?"

"Yes. You've been keeping secrets."

"Secrets?"

"Let's talk. About that dragon."

"Oh, gods, Dad-" Hiccup muttered, but Stoick suddenly burst out laughing. Hiccup glanced around awkwardly for a moment before he joined, though his laughter was fake and hesitant.

"You're not, you're not mad?" Hiccup asked.

Stoick suddenly stopped laughing. "_Mad?_" He bellowed loudly, "I've been _hoping_ for this!"

Hiccup narrowed his eyes in confusion. His father _wanted_ him to befriend a Night Fury?

"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! Or mount your first Gronkle head on a spear!" He sighed. "Oh, what a feelin'!"

He clapped Hiccup on the back so hard that the boy ended up in the basket that was next to him, not noticing the way his face fell during his speech. Hiccup released a quiet sigh; his father had no idea...

"Ah, all those years you were holdin' out on me! Hidin' in the forge during the Raids, sneakin' off in the woods, those weird inventions of yours! Odin, it was rough, I almost gave up on you! But, _this!_ Thor almighty!"

He never noticed the way Hiccup's face dulled out when he talked about his inventions, or how his own father almost gave up on him. Hiccup quietly huffed, pulling himself out of the basket as his father found a chair, scooting toward him.

"And with you doin' so well in the ring, we _finally_ have something to talk about." He grinned at Hiccup expectantly, but Hiccup merely glanced around a little awkwardly. What was he supposed to say exactly? _'Sorry, Dad, but you're wrong; I don't want to kill dragons'?_ Yeah, that would totally go over well.

A pregnant pause.

Stoick scooted a little closer, still grinning before his face suddenly fell, and he cleared his throat. "I, uh, I brought you something." He reached behind him into his sack, pulling out a small helmet complete with horns, handing it to Hiccup. "To keep you safe in the ring."

Hiccup stared at it, feeling a little proud, finally earning enough of his father's respect to be allowed to wear a true Viking helmet. He ran his hand over the top of the hat. "Wow... thanks..."

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It was half of her breast plate."

Hiccup's hand froze, and he let an odd expression overcome his face as he slowly removed his hand, curling his fingers, a very weird image flashing through his head. Without moving his head, he rolled his eyes upwards to look at Stoick.

"Matching set," Stoick said, tapping his own hat, "Keeps her close, you know? Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal."

Hiccup continued staring at him. The helmets looked completely different, especially in their sizes, and he questioned his father's sanity if he truly believed it was from his mother's breast plate. He carefully placed the hat on the desk. There was another small pause before Hiccup stretched out his arms, letting out a big, fake yawn. "Well, I should really... be getting to bed."

"Right," Stoick said, quickly standing, their voices mingling together.

"Uh, good talk-"

"Good chat-"

"See you in the ring tomorrow-"

"Right, thanks for stopping by, and the, uh... breast hat."

"The hat." Stoick's voice was bit stern at the end, and Hiccup decided to keep his breast comments to himself.

Stoick quickly squeezed through the door, knocking over a few shields as he tried to maneuver through the too small space.

Hiccup puffed out his cheeks before blowing out air, his eyes wide in exasperation. He let out a huff, waiting for his father to leave before he snuck out the back of the forge, wanting to go out on another flight with Toothless.

He may not know what he's going to do, but he knows that he doesn't want to kill a dragon.

* * *

**Aww, poor Hiccup and Astrid...**

**If anyone wants a visual on Hiccup and Toothless' second flight, I used their scenes from Gift of the Night Fury.**

**1) **_Hiccup's flame sword, which I believe is called **Smoldering**, from the second movie_

**Well, I finished this chapter earlier than expected, and like I said before, I'm alone for the rest of the day with nothing better to do, so I'm going to get started on another chapter and if I finish it in time, I'll go ahead and publish it today :)**


	9. The Romantic Flight

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**Note: Stole some stuff from HTTYD2 and GOTNF :)**

* * *

The Gronkle buzzed around the arena, which was filled with short, rectangular wooden walls. A crowd surrounded the ring, cheering. Ducked behind one was Astrid, huddled up with an axe that appeared too heavy for her and a shield. Hiccup suddenly hopped behind the same wall, carrying his usual axe, with a helmet on his head. He did a double-take when he saw her, before his eyes narrowed.

He shoved her shield out of his way, pushing his face close to hers, "Stay out of my way. _I'm_ winning this thing."

"Please, by all means..." Astrid mumbled as he rolled to hide behind another wall.

Hiccup glanced up, catching sight of his father watching eagerly. Stoick gave a thumbs up, and Hiccup gave a hesitant smile. Hiccup had decided during his night flight with Toothless that he would win and, instead of fighting the Monstrous Nightmare, he would show people the true nature of the dragons, as well as keep Astrid from getting maimed. Hopefully, by then, he would have enough of his father's respect for the man to actually listen.

Astrid lifted herself up a little, catching sight of her parents in the crowd. They waved at her happily, and she hesitantly waved back, not noticing the Gronkle turn its attention on her.

Hiccup ducked behind another wall, speaking to himself determinedly. "This time. This time for sure." He leaped up from the wall, his axe raised, a battle cry escaping him as he ran toward the Gronkle. He stopped, the war cry dying on his lips when he caught sight of Astrid huddled in on herself, the Gronkle laid out on its side.

Astrid looked toward him, her eyes wide, and she shrugged helplessly when she caught his eye.

"ARGH!" Hiccup shouted in a rage, throwing his helmet to the ground, swinging his axe around in his anger, "SON OF A HALF-TROLL RAT EATING MUNGE BUCKET!"

Astrid glanced around awkwardly. "So, later," She muttered, trying to escape, but Gobber grabbed her by the back of her wrappings.

"Whup, not so fast," He said.

"Um, I'm kind of late for-"

"_What?_" Hiccup growled, shoving his axe against her neck, "Late for _what? Exactly?_"

"Heh..." Astrid choked out, giving him a nervous look. She knew not to test his temper, especially when it was about something important to him. She knew what he was feeling; he wanted to use this moment to prove himself to his father, and she took it away from him. But it really was an accident; she didn't notice the Gronkle until it was too late, and she reacted on instinct, scratching the dead spot below its chin.

"Quiet down!" Stoick boomed over the crowd, leading Elder Gothi in front of him, "The Elder has chosen!"

Gobber pushed Astrid and Hiccup side-by-side in a line, standing behind them. He held his artificial hand, a hook today, above Hiccup's head.

Elder Gothi sadly shook her head.

Gobber gave her an odd look, using his true hand to point to Astrid. Elder Gothi smiled, nodding her head, and Astrid squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment. She opened them, glancing over at Hiccup, catching the dark look he sent her and winced. She knew he wasn't truly angry with her, just frustrated; it really has to sting when your own great-grandmother chooses the village klutz over you.

Hiccup glanced up, catching his father's eyes; Stoick's arms her crossed as he looked down at Hiccup, his eyes disappointed.

Astrid winced when she saw the dark look in Hiccup's eyes fade to one of sadness and resignation, lowering them to the ground, his father's disappointed stare getting to him. Astrid cringed when Gobber wrapped his hook hand around her shoulders, cheering her on, the other recruits surrounding her excitedly.

"Astrid, you've done it! You get to kill the dragon!"

Fishlegs hoisted her onto his shoulders, the twins and Snotlout waving their arms at her for high-fives. Astrid unenthusiastically waved a fist in the air.

"Great... I am so-"

* * *

"Leaving," Astrid muttered, carrying her basket of supplies into the cove, glancing around as she tried to find Stormfly, "We're leaving. Let's go, girl. You and I are taking a little vacation. Forever."

She sat down her basket of supplies next to a large rock, opening the top to check the few contents inside, sighing.

_SHINK!_

Astrid glanced up at the sound of rock scraping against metal, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sight of Hiccup sitting cross-legged on the rock in front of her, sharpening his axe with a rock.

"Agh! What the- Hiccup..." Astrid stuttered nervously, "What're, what're you doing here?"

Hiccup simply tossed the stone aside, checking his axe before planting the hilt against the rock. "I wanna know what's going on." He hopped off the rock, advancing on Astrid, holding out his axe beside him, tossing it from one hand to the other. "No one just _gets_ as good as you do. _Especially_ you. Start talking."

Astrid backed up a little, twisting around as he followed her every movement, "I, uh-"

"Are you training with someone? It better not involve _this._" He grabbed the rope tied in circlets to the side of her belt, pulling her a little closer to him.

"I, uh, I know this looks bad, but I-"

Somewhere behind her, she heard Stormfly snort. Hiccup heard it too, using the rope to toss her to the ground with a surprised shout, his eyes narrowed into the distance as he stepped over her. Astrid quickly scrambled to her feet, running in front of him.

She planted her hands on his chest, attempting to stay in front of him, rambling. "Alright, I'm through with the lies, I've been... bungee jumping! Yeah, that's what this rope is for! So there, now you know! Drag me back, take me home, it's time everyone knew-"

Hiccup grabbed one of her hands, twisting it backwards, making her fall to the ground with an, "Ow!" She sat up, holding her hand, "Why would you _do_ that?"

Hiccup kicked at her feet as she tried to sit up more, sending her to the ground on her back with another, "Ow!"

"_That's_ for the lies," He said before letting his axe drop, and the hilt bounced off of her stomach with a final "ow!" before Hiccup caught it in mid-air. "And _That's_ for everything _else._"

Suddenly, there was a growl, and Hiccup clutched his axe tighter, glancing up. He gasped at the sight of Stormfly's angry eyes, tackling Astrid to the ground, "Get down!"

Stormfly growled again, charging. Hiccup rolled onto his feet, readying his axe as Stormfly got nearer.

"No!" Astrid shouted, tackling Hiccup to the ground before he could swing, the axe skidding across the ground. She scrambled to her feet, stepping between him and Stormfly.

"It's okay," Astrid said quietly, "He's a friend." She turned back to face Hiccup as he stood, Stormfly nudging her back as she growled. "You just scared her."

"_I_ scared _her?_" Hiccup exclaimed incredulously before narrowing his eyes at her, speaking quietly, "_Who_ is _her?_"

Astrid smiled nervously, "Hiccup, Stormfly. Stormfly, Hiccup."

Stormfly growled again.

Hiccup just stared at her for a moment in disbelief, and Astrid could've sworn she saw a look of realization dawn on his face before he suddenly twisted around, snatching his axe off the ground before sprinting off.

"Oh, we are so dead," Astrid mumbled, watching him run. She turned to Stormfly, watching as the Nadder snorted and waddled off, and she threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?"

* * *

Hiccup huffed as he walked through the forest; he had stopped running a long time ago. He knew he had probably freaked Astrid out, just taking off like that, but he needed to think. He hoped the dragon wasn't too upset with him for the axe thing; he wasn't going to cut her, just bat her aside with the flat portion of the axe in hopes that he could daze her for a minute before trying to calm her down, but he supposed that Astrid and the Nadder wouldn't really have a way of knowing that. He was a little irritated he didn't notice anything; he should've figured she had a dragon too.

Astrid had a dragon. Unbelievable.

Though, it's probably no stranger than him calling a Night Fury his best friend.

All those things she did in the ring were learned from her Nadder... _Stormfly._ Hiccup wondered if any of those tricks would work on Toothless. He had been so determined to get Toothless into the air again that he didn't bother to test anything out with him; he had only played around and practiced flying.

He wondered how good Astrid was at flying with Stormfly.

He tried to hop over a log, but he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders, and he let out a startled shout when he was lifted into the air, his shoulders clutched in Stormfly's grasp.

"Oh, Great Odin's ghost!" He shouted, scratching at Stormfly's claws, seeing the ground was miles under his feet. He kept shouting as they climbed into the air; he was much more comfortable on his dragon's saddle and not in some strange dragon's claws, thank you very much. They didn't stop until they reached the tallest tree they could find, and Stormfly suddenly dropped Hiccup, who let out a startled shout. He grabbed onto a branch instinctively, and Stormfly settled herself on the top of the tree comfortably.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, scraping the sole of his foot against the branch as he tried to climb up, but his foot slipped, making him swing dangerously, "Get me _down_ from here!"

"Not until you give me a chance to explain." Astrid said pleadingly, holding out her hands.

He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, his face flattening out a little. "You don't _need_ to explain anything. I get it."

Astrid faltered, her eyes widening in confusion. "Um... what...?"

Hiccup sighed irritably. "What _exactly_ do you think you need to explain?"

"Um... the fact that I'm... fraternizing with the enemy...?"

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one."

Astrid blinked. "I'm not?"

Hiccup released another irritated sigh. "Just get me down from here and I'll show you, alright?"

"Um... Okay..."

Hiccup stared at her for a moment before grunting and pulling himself up. He blew air out of his face and held up a hand toward the rope around Stormfly. He shot a look at her when she growled before grabbing the rope to pull himself up to where she sat. He took one look at Astrid's outstretched hand before knocking it away and hopping onto the dragon behind her.

Astrid looked over her shoulder, and Hiccup gave her a look.

"Okay. Now get me down."

Astrid turned her attention to Stormfly, tightening her grasp on the rope tied around the dragon for support. "Okay, Stormfly, follow Hiccup's, um... directions, I guess. But, go _slow._ Remember, this is my first time flying."

Hiccup blinked. "This is the first time you've flown her?"

Astrid glanced back at him, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Um... yes, why?"

Hiccup let a smirk grace his lips. "Well... you should probably hang on."

Astrid blinked again, and Hiccup kept his smirk on his face as he gave Stormfly a little pat. She squawked at him, her nostrils flaring, and Hiccup assumed she smelled Toothless on him. "What do you say, Stormfly? How's about we make Astrid's first flight _spectacular?_"

Stormfly squawked again, and Hiccup saw her yellow eyes glint mischievously, making his smirk widen. He glanced at Astrid, watching her dart her eyes between them in confusion, both her brows raised in surprise at his behavior.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

Astrid didn't know what that glint in Hiccup's eyes was, but she knew she didn't like it. She glanced down at Stormfly, pursing her lips when she saw the same glint in the Nadder's eyes.

And then Stormfly took off.

Astrid screamed as they violently climbed into the sky; she didn't even know the Nadder could go this fast and rough. Hiccup was bumping backward behind her, screaming and laughing in elation, and Astrid was afraid he was going to fall off if Stormfly didn't slow down.

"Stormfly, what're you doing!?"

Stormfly slowly righted herself, hovering in the sky, and Hiccup quickly scrambled up, wrapping his arms around Astrid's waist, clutching on tightly, and Astrid knew he was grinning, hearing a few puffs of laughter escape him. She leaned forward a little, clutching the rope around Stormfly for dear life, hearing Hiccup snicker behind her.

Hiccup began whooping and cheering, while Astrid screamed in fear when Stormfly speedily descended, twisting, rolling, and spinning. She even splashed into the water for a brief moment.

"_Stormflyyyyyy!_"

Stormfly ignored her, climbing the sky rapidly before she suddenly let herself fall backward. "And now the spinning," Hiccup smirked, and Astrid screamed again when Stormfly began a spinning decent; she couldn't even tell where the sky was anymore.

"Okay! Okay! Stormfly, I get it! Please stop!" Astrid shouted fearfully, squeezing her eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact of the waves, and Hiccup frowned, while Stormfly let out an apologetic warble when they noticed a single tear slip off her face and into the air.

Astrid let out a shout when a sudden jolt brought her upright. She kept her body pressed close to Stormfly's and her eyes closed, tightly grasping the ropes, and she could still feel Hiccup's hand on her waist. She could feel that they had stopped spinning, and that they were now gliding peacefully, but she was determined to keep her eyes closed until they landed.

Her curiosity peaked, however, when she didn't hear Hiccup give a single direction, and she slowly opened her eyes, gasping at the sight that greeted her.

They were high in the air, and she couldn't see anything below her but the white clouds. She wanted to panic, but then she looked at her surroundings, glancing at Hiccup's satisfied grin for a brief moment before she returned her attention to the sky. They were flying gently among the fluffy clouds, and they seemed to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. The clouds and the sky were colored in thousands of hues, from pinks to oranges to reds to yellows, and even a few purples.

Astrid slowly sat up, not even noticing her own movements as she was dazzled by the scene before her. It was like she entered a new world... the world the dragons lived in. They soared high into the sky, the wind blowing across her hair, her heart beat calming as she enjoyed the new feelings surrounding her.

Her head skimmed some clouds, and she looked up at the dancing fluff. She unlatched one hand from Stormfly's ropes, quickly bringing her other hand behind her to tightly grasp Hiccup's arm as she sat up as far as she could, reaching up. Her arm passed through the cloud, and she pulled it back, staring at it with furrowed brows when she felt moisture.

"It's _water,_" She said in wonder, reaching her hand up again, hearing Hiccup chuckle a little behind her. She let out a laugh of sheer delight, reaching both hands up into the clouds, and she felt Hiccup move his grip on her up a little, as well as tighten it so she wouldn't fall off. He glanced up at her, giving a small smile, and she smiled back before turning her attention back to the sky.

Stormfly began to arc, and Astrid scrambled, throwing her hands back to grab Hiccup's wrists, and she quickly looked down at Stormfly's wings, watching them beat, trying to hide her blush from him when she saw him grin a little. She felt Stormfly suddenly turn, and she could no longer tell which way was up or down, the clouds everywhere, and she began to giggle at the silliness and elation of the whole thing, and she could hear Hiccup beginning to chuckle along with her.

* * *

They flew around for another half hour before Hiccup began giving them directions. He led them deep into the woods, and Stormfly gently landed when they came upon a large ravine.

Hiccup immediately hopped off of Stormfly, sprinting toward the ravine, disappearing down the hill. Astrid hopped down as well, and she made a move to follow, but stopped short when she heard a draconian purr resound through the air.

Her eyes widened in awe when Hiccup and a medium sized black dragon with a saddle and large eyes came bounding up the hill. Stormfly let out a cheerful squawk next to her, and the black dragon crooned happily, letting its tongue loll out as it and Stormfly quickly ran towards each other.

Hiccup watched the dragons interact with a small grin, Astrid with awe. The two dragons hopped around each other, bobbing their heads dramatically, letting out warbles and croons and chirps and squawks.

"Hiccup," Astrid breathed, looking at him with wide eyes, "That's a _Night Fury._"

"Yeah," Hiccup's grin expanded, "Yeah, that's Toothless."

"Toothless...?"

She jumped back with a surprised shout when _Toothless_ suddenly jumped in front of her, shoving his face right into hers. He stared at her with wide, docile eyes, his tongue still hanging out, purring happily.

Hesitantly, Astrid rested a hand on his head, and he warbled, nuzzling into the touch with closed eyes, smiling happily. Astrid laughed a little before it suddenly cut short in surprise.

Toothless... was toothless.

"Night Furies really don't have teeth?" Astrid asked as she scratched Toothless behind one of his ear plates, and he arched into the tongue, purring lazily.

Hiccup smirked. "Toothless." The dragon turned his attention to him, and Hiccup made a small gesture with his hand. Toothless backed up a little, opening his mouth, and Astrid started a little when teeth suddenly jutted out from his gums. She watched in fascination when they retracted, and she had to resist the urge to ask him to do it again.

"I suppose it could be an ironic name..." Hiccup muttered as Toothless turned his attention back to Stormfly, the two chasing each other in circles in what appeared to be a game of tag.

"How'd you find him?" Astrid asked.

"He was sleeping in the forest. He woke up, pinned me down, screamed in my face, and ran off."

"He screamed in your face?" Astrid furrowed her brows.

"Yup," Hiccup said flippantly, "My ears were ringing for the rest of the week."

Astrid snorted a little before looking at the dragons, watching them play, her face slackening a little in awe once more. "So... all this time you had a dragon, too."

"Mmm."

Astrid furrowed her brows when she finally noticed Toothless' tail fins. One was off; it looked more like brown leather than black scales.

"What's wrong with his tail fin?"

"I don't really know," Hiccup furrowed his brows as well, "I think he got into a fight. When I first found him, his left tail fin was tattered up, like something took a bite out of it. I had to sneak some sleep medicine into his food so I could get rid of it. Then, I made him a new tail fin."

"You made... a prosthetic tail fin?"

Geez, she knew he was a great inventor, but that's a little too much. He noticed her tone, giving her a self-satisfied smirk, and she rolled her eyes a little, though the gesture was playful.

The two stood in a comfortable silence, watching Toothless and Stormfly bat at each other playfully, and Astrid shook her head in disbelief. "A _Night Fury..._"

Hiccup smirked, "Yeah. See, I got the cool one."

Astrid let her head fall back with a small laugh, rolling her eyes again, and Hiccup joined her in laughter. Soon, they were unable to control their laughs, unable to handle the absurdity of the entire situation. Toothless and Stormfly stopped short, glancing at their respective riders, squawking and warbling in confusion as they watched the two lose their breaths.

Toothless stepped forward a little as the laughter began to calm, crouching, and, when they were reduced to quiet chuckling, he pounced, hopping over Hiccup. The boy let out a laugh as he fell onto his back, one of Toothless' claw pushing gently on his chest, and Astrid backed up a little with a grin so she didn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Oh, no, he's pinned!" Hiccup grinned, speaking in a mock voice, as if he were narrating a fight. "Oh, and it's ugly!" He held up his hands in defense while trying to push away Toothless' lightly batting claw, and Stormfly and Astrid shared a look as they watched the two. "Dragons and Vikings, mortal enemies for eternity! Locked in combat till the bitter-Ohhhhh!" Hiccup let his voice trail off dramatically when Toothless let himself drop flat on his stomach, his head falling onto Hiccup's chest.

Toothless suddenly flicked his tongue out, catching the underside of Hiccup's chin, and the boy glanced down at him just in time for the giant tongue to catch him from chest to head. "Arghhh!" He let out a frustrated shout, trying to defend himself against the pink menace and failing miserably. Toothless let him kick his feet up, using the momentum to roll away before he hopped to his feet.

Astrid watched in amusement as he flicked away piles of spit, looking down at his soaked clothes in annoyance. "Really?" He yelled, flicking away the drool, and Toothless let out what was obviously a laugh.

Hiccup suddenly flicked his hands forward, smirking when the drool caught Toothless right on the eye, and the dragon snorted, giving him _'the look'_. Hiccup simply shrugged, "Hey, if you can't handle it, don't dish it out."

Toothless snorted again, shaking his head in annoyance before he began licking his arm and running it over his eyes in a manner eerily similar to a cat.

Astrid smiled a little, but her face fell when Stormfly began nuzzling her. So, she and Hiccup both had a secret, and she wasn't sure what they were going to do about it. They can't tell anybody, or they may kill Toothless and Stormfly, and she was afraid for tomorrow, when she would have to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the whole village.

"Hiccup..." She whispered, and he turned his attention to her, still flicking off some excess spit, "What're we gonna do...?"

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, and Astrid wanted to look away from his intense eyes, but managed to keep his stare. Their gazes stayed locked for a long moment before Hiccup suddenly let a grin emerge onto his face.

"You wanna go flying?"

* * *

Astrid laughed in elation as Stormfly sped across the ocean, the light from the setting sun making the water sparkle brightly. She looked to the left, and Hiccup grinned at her from his seat on Toothless.

Astrid's eyes widened when she caught sight of a small school of Thunderdrums swimming through the ocean ahead of her, using their wings to bounce through the waters. She grinned as she watched Hiccup quickly press down on Toothless' pedal. The prosthetic flared downward, and Toothless quickly flipped around, zooming right under the wing of a Thunderdrum as it bounced out of the waters for a brief moment.

Stormfly squawked, quickly flapping her wings to catch up with Toothless as the black dragon began climbing toward the clouds. Hiccup looked back at her, grinning, and he shouted down at her, "What's wrong, Astrid? Can't keep up?"

Astrid grinned back, patting Stormfly, who squawked and immediately picked up her speed, soaring right next to Toothless. Toothless let out a happy bark at Stormfly, who returned the noise before the Night Fury zoomed ahead, twisting backwards in the air as he speedily dived downward before spreading his wings to catch himself, roaring as he began soaring upward, twirling speedily, and Astrid wondered how Hiccup wasn't getting dizzy.

Toothless suddenly dropped backward, letting himself fall before he spread his wings, catching himself just as he reached Stormfly's side, and Astrid gave Hiccup a smile when she saw him grinning in elation.

"This is amaaaziiing!" He shouted, and Astrid grinned elatedly in agreement as Toothless and Stormfly simultaneously pressed upward, climbing higher through the clouds.

Astrid was having the time of her life. Now she knew why Hiccup wanted to fly so badly; it _was_ amazing. To be able to see everything, to be able to touch the clouds, to be able to soar side by side with the dragons. It made it easy to forget all her worries and just enjoy her time with her dragon and Hiccup.

Astrid's face slackened in amazement when they emerged from the clouds, catching sight of a small flock of Timberjacks hovering above them, the orange glow of the setting sun making their scales shine.

Hiccup gave her a grin at her amazement, and she returned it with an elated laugh. He glanced down at Toothless, patting him a little to get his attention. "Okay, bud, you wanna give Astrid a heart attack?"

Toothless let out a quiet warble of laughter, and Hiccup unhooked his harness from the saddle. He hopped up, his feet landing on the saddle, and Astrid glanced over with widened eyes when she saw him.

"Hiccup, what're you-"

She was cut off by his elated shout when he suddenly jumped up, using the air to fall backward in an almost-flip. He and Toothless immediately laid their arms _(and wings)_ flat against their sides, diving from the sky.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, and Stormfly squawked, diving after them. She and Stormfly kept pace beside Toothless, who crooned at her happily. Hiccup looked up at them, and Toothless let out another croon before tapping Hiccup with his claw, causing the boy to slowly spin around in the air, and Astrid's worries were forgotten as she began laughing along with him.

Toothless suddenly spun around, letting his back face Hiccup, who easily grabbed the saddle and hooked his harness into place before pressing down on the stirrup pedal, flaring the tail fin out.

Hiccup and Astrid laughed as Stormfly and Toothless flared out their wings, beating them in one powerful motion before they climbed upward, disappearing into the clouds.

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless, and Astrid and Stormfly burst from the clouds, using the moon as a source of light. They had been flying for hours now, using their time to be free of all their problems. They were now gliding peacefully instead of trying out a bunch of tricks _(though, that was Hiccup's turf, not Astrid's; she was still new to flying, after all)_.

Astrid smiled in delight, never having seen the moon so close before. Thousands of light twinkled in the night sky, and the clouds around them were sparkling in shades of green and blue and purple. Astrid gasped when she saw hundreds of hues of light glide past them; she's heard stories of the Aurvindale's Fire, but she's never seen it before, and she never imagined it would be this beautiful.

Hiccup smiled at her from his place beside her on Toothless, and they all looked ahead at the sight of familiar rock formations surrounding a small island. Astrid gazed at Berk, seeing it from a dragon's point of view. It was so different than what she was used to; she never knew how beautiful Berk looked at night, seeing the glows of fires around the village homes through some of the open windows.

Astrid glanced over at Hiccup as Toothless and Stormfly began turning, heading back toward Raven Point to get to the cove. The cool night air washed over her peacefully, and Astrid finally found her words.

"This... is amazing," She smiled, "The is the best secret I've ever had."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Hiccup's warm eyes caught hers, and Astrid felt her insides roll up... in a good way, that is. He gave a lopsided half-smile, half-smirk thing, and Astrid smiled back at him, their eyes not breaking contact.

This was so romantic. And peaceful.

But, Stormfly and Toothless suddenly jerked, and Astrid let out a startled shout, tightening her grip on the ropes when she was nearly thrown off, the two dragons diving into a cloud of fog. Astrid glanced over at Toothless, finding him behaving oddly as well, his ear plates standing erect, flying just as erratically as Stormfly.

"Toothless," Hiccup murmured, "What's wrong?"

Hiccup and Astrid let out a small shout when a Snafflefang suddenly plunged through the clouds, missing them by mere inches.

"Get down!" Hiccup hissed, lying as flat as he could over Toothless' back, and Astrid copied his movements over Stormfly. The Snafflefang nearly collided with a Grapple Grounder as it emerged from the clouds. They growled at each other in annoyance before continuing their flight, and Astrid finally noticed that they were each holding a sheep in their claws. More and more dragons began to appear from the mist, from Hobblegrunts to Hotburples to Raincutters, Zipplebacks, Gronkles, Nightmares, and Nadders, each carrying something in their claws and, eventually, Astrid and Hiccup were surrounded.

"What's going on?" Astrid whispered as they glanced around.

"It looks like they're hauling in their kill," Hiccup answered.

Suddenly, all of the dragons, including Toothless and Stormfly, dove deeper into the clouds, flying around different rock formations hidden by the mist. They suddenly came across a large volcano, and all the dragons entered through a large hole. Astrid and Hiccup let out a sharp cry when Toothless and Stormfly entered, diving down into a spot that was illuminated orange by the lava.

Hiccup looked around, "What my dad wouldn't give to find this..."

All the dragons dropped their kills into the mist covered hole beneath them as they flew by before picking a spot to settle into. Stormfly and Toothless flew around, finding a spot in the back to hide. Astrid and Hiccup peeked around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse.

"It's satisfying to know all our food has been dumped down a hole," Hiccup muttered, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"They're not eating any of it..." Astrid muttered in confusion, and they glanced over at the sight of a tired looking Gronkle buzzing over the hole. It spit out a pathetic looking fish before attempting to buzz off, but a rumbling noise made it freeze.

And, suddenly, the biggest, ugliest, most evil thing Hiccup or Astrid has ever seen erupted from the mist, closing its jaws around the unfortunate Gronkle.

Astrid and Hiccup let out a small noise, their eyes widening, and Stormfly, along with all the other dragons, let out a whimper, huddling as far away from the creature as they could, while Toothless narrowed his eyes, a quiet rumble escaping him.

"_What_ is _that?_" Astrid whispered.

"Toothless, we need to go," Hiccup whispered urgently when the mountainous dragon paused, its enormous nostrils flaring before its eyes suddenly snapped to them.

"Stormfly, Toothless, you need to get us out of here! _Now!_" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless and Stormfly jerked, snapping out of their trance. Toothless let Stormfly take to the air first, giving the slower dragon a better chance at escape. He took to the air just as the monster's jaws snapped toward them.

Toothless and Stormfly followed the dragons swarming away from the cave, and the behemoth snapped again, catching an unfortunate Zippleback as it flew behind Hiccup and Toothless.

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief as they all safely escaped the cave, beginning to head back toward the cove, her head reeling at what she just saw. Hiccup glanced over at her, meeting her eyes. "You okay?"

She nodded silently, rattled at the sight of that monstrous dragon.

"It makes sense," Hiccup said as Stormfly and Toothless landed in the cove, "It's like a gigantic beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them."

He glanced at Toothless, catching the dragon's eyes, and he patted his head a little. "That's what happened to your tail fin, isn't it, bud? You found the strength to escape her control, and she snapped at you when you tried to leave."

Toothless let out a sad warble of confirmation, his ear plates lowering a little, and he lowered his gaze to the ground in resignation, and Hiccup and Astrid sent him sad, sympathetic, comforting looks.

Hiccup understood now; why the forest had been so wrecked when he first looked for Toothless. When he escaped, the queen snapped at him, taking part of his left tail fin with her, and, more than likely, he crashed around, using what was left of his tail fin to reach Berk before his strength gave out on him and he crashed into the woods. He upturned the place trying to take off before deciding to take a rest when Hiccup found him.

And when Hiccup cut away the rest of the tail fin, Toothless couldn't get into the air at all.

It made Hiccup feel incredibly guilty.

"So, what'd we do?" Astrid asked as she and Hiccup hopped off of their respective dragons, "We can't tell anybody. They'll... _kill_ Stormfly and Toothless."

"I know. We need to think this through..." Hiccup murmured, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

"I'm gonna have to fight that Nightmare tomorrow, Hiccup, we don't really have a lot of time," Astrid said, her voice quivering, and Hiccup glanced up at her.

"Then what do you want us to do?"

"I... I don't know. Look, just... I'll think of something, okay?"

"Okay," Hiccup whispered.

Hiccup suddenly pulled back his arm, punching Astrid hard on the arm, right below the shoulder, and Astrid gasp in both pain and surprise, instinctively clutching the now aching spot. "That was for trying to kidnap me," He muttered irritantly.

She rubbed her arm, giving him an irritated look, about to say something. Before she could however, he placed a hand on her shoulder as well as he could over her armor pad, pulling closer, ghosting his lips over her cheek for a brief moment before pulling away. She gave him a surprise look, and he simply stared back at her blankly.

"That was for... everything else." He quickly turned to Toothless, mounting the dragon before pressing down on the stirrup pedal and taking to the air, most likely heading back toward the ravine.

Astrid watched him go, her face feeling hot, rubbing her tingling cheek; she knew her face was a glowing pink. She heard a snort, making her jump, and she glanced over at Stormfly, who cocked her head.

"_What?_" Astrid exclaimed.

* * *

**Aw, Hiccup, you're so cute :)**

**I'm happy I finally got this chapter written. It's one of the reasons I've been posting so many chapters today; I was excited to get it down :)**

**Okay, so I hope you enjoyed my Hiccstrid chapter and, as I said before, I did steal some stuff from GOTNF and HTTYD2, so :)**


	10. The Kill Ring

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

* * *

Hiccup frowned as he followed his father to the arena, stepping through the lively streets of Berk as Stoick greeted random Vikings on the trails. Everyone was bustling toward the South side of the island, and the closer they got to the ring, the deeper Hiccup's frown became.

What exactly was Astrid doing? She said she was going to think of something, but, by the looks of things, that something hasn't happened yet, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that something incredibly bad was about to happen, and it only got worse once they crossed the bridge to the arena.

Once they were across, he glanced around, trying to find Astrid, hoping she wasn't about to do something stupid like she always does. Having no luck in finding her, he followed Stoick as the man made his way through the crowd, which was relatively easy considering he was the Chief, and the Chief needed to make his speech.

"Stoick!" The familiar voice of Cnut boomed across the crowd, and Hiccup glanced over just in time to see him and Thora weave their way through and reach them, clapping hands with Stoick and pulling him into a burly man-hug.

"I'm so glad Hiccup could make it today," Thora smiled as they pulled apart, and Hiccup wasn't too sure how he felt about that look in her eyes, "We wouldn't want Astrid's future husband to miss her exam, now would we?"

Hiccup, unable to stop his glare, lowered his eyes so as to not disrespect her, but not before catching his father's raised brows. He started a little when he heard Stoick's laughter, his glare deepening when the others started laughing along with him.

"Well," Stoick laughed, but Hiccup could see serious contemplation in his eyes, clapping Hiccup on the back, causing the boy to stumble forward a little, "Then we better start making the contract arrangements, then?"

"Sure thing, Stoick," Cnut laughed, and the Chief gestured for him and Thora to follow him to the stand where he would make his speech. Hiccup made a move to follow, but he was stopped by a pair of arms being thrown over his shoulders, pulling him into a headlock.

"Hey!" He grunted, hearing familiar snorts and laughter behind him, a set of knuckles ruffly gruffing across his head.

"So, the lil' Hiccup's got a girly-friend!" Hiccup grunted again, shoving Tuffnut's arms off of him, turning to face the rest of the recruits. Ruffnut shared her brother's smirk, Fishlegs was trying to keep a tiny smile hidden, and Snotlout was pouting, his arms crossed as he faced the other direction.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend."

Ruffnut scoffed in disbelief, though her smirk remained, and Snotlout suddenly jumped in. "See? I told you guys Astrid wouldn't go for this loser." Hiccup rolled his eyes again; he knew about Snotlout's like for Astrid, though the moron had a bad habit of teasing her one day and flirting with her the next, which confused and annoyed Astrid beyond belief.

Snotlout came over to stand next to Hiccup, throwing his arm over his cousin's shoulders. "See, Astrid's looking for someone with a little more muscles and a handsome demean-ugh!"

He was cut off when Hiccup elbowed him in the stomach, loosening his hold on his shoulders, then turned to twist his arm behind his back. He tried to wiggle out of Hiccup's grasp, but the boy merely swiped one of his feet under Snotlout's causing his older cousin to fall flat on his behind, a rather disgruntled look on his face.

Ruffnut snorted. "Gee, you sure seem quite protective of Astrid. You _sure_ you're not her boyfriend?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes once again before he began glancing around the arena. Things haven't started yet, and he seriously needed to find Astrid; he wanted to know _exactly_ what her plan was.

A sudden uproar caught everyone's attention, and they all glanced over to the tallest stand, finding Stoick standing between Thora and Cnut, readying himself to speak. Hiccup let out a startled sound when Snotlout suddenly grabbed his arm, dragging him through the crowd of Vikings as he followed after the rest of the recruits to get closer to the gates of the ring.

Hiccup jerked his arm out of Snotlout's grasp once they reached their destination, glancing around frantically for Astrid. He finally found her, standing in the archway of the entrance, waiting for those damned gates to open up. He ignored the recruits' confused looks as he scurried past them just as Stoick began speaking.

"Now," He grinned, "If somebody had told me that in just a few short weeks that Astrid would go from being, well... _Astrid_ to defeating my own son in Dragon Training, I would've tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad!"

Everyone cried out in laughter, and Hiccup dodged a few Vikings who were cheering in a rowdy way, trying to push his way to the entrance.

"And you know it! Hah, hah! But here we are, and no one's more surprised than I am. However, I know for a fact that no one is more _proud_ than our very own Hofferson family."

Hiccup winced at that, hopping over a few Vikings who were, for some reason, sprawled out on the ground, most likely drunk from too much celebrating.

"Today, their daughter becomes a Viking. Today she becomes _one of us!_"

A mass of cheering Vikings pushed closer to the gates, and Hiccup hopped out of the way just in time, right into the entrance of the arena.

Astrid stood alone, holding onto her shield; her back was to him, and she didn't even seem to notice he was there. He rested a hand on her shoulder, feeling her jump in surprise before turning to face him, relaxing when she caught his eyes.

"Be careful with that dragon."

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," She muttered, catching sight of her parents following Stoick to their seats.

"What're you gonna do?"

"Put an end to this. I have to try, just..." She looked back at him, "If something goes wrong, just... will you make sure they don't find Stormfly? Take her with you when you try to hide Toothless?"

"I will. Just make sure nothing goes wrong."

Astrid nodded, and Gobber appeared at the entrance, grinning.

"Astrid, it's time. Knock 'em dead." He said before turning back to the arena.

Hiccup turned to go back to the stands, but he froze when he heard a small sound escape Astrid's throat. She watched through blurred eyes when he turned on his heel to face her.

"Hiccup-" His shoulder smothered her mouth when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes widened, and she tensed up for a brief moment, before she relaxed, burying her head into his neck, pressing herself closer to him.

He let go of her far too early in her opinion. Her eyes were no longer blurred, and they shared a nod before she turned and walked into the arena. Gobber soon joined Hiccup in the entrance, closing the gate before he turned to walk into the stands, clapping Hiccup on the shoulder on his way out.

Hiccup didn't make a move to leave this time.

Astrid looked around at the crowd cheering her name, and she slowly walked toward the rack of weapons. She grabbed the smallest knife she could find.

"Hm," Stoick muttered, glancing over at Gobber, Thora, and Cnut, "I would've gone for the hammer."

Astrid took a deep breath, "I'm ready."

The gates unbarred.

The Monstrous Nightmare, its body set alight, burst into the arena, growling. It sprung onto the wall, crawling across it like a spider, shooting a blast at the crowd, who dodged it. It crawled upside down along the chains that acted as the arena roof, stopping above Astrid. It bent its neck back, looking at her, and then pulled down a winged forelimb, releasing itself from the chains, landing in front of Astrid.

It slowly advanced on her, and her face turned determined as she backed away, dropping her knife. She held out her free hand.

Stoick narrowed his eyes, "What is she doin'?"

Hiccup grabbed onto the gate bars, his eyes narrowing, trying to get a better look.

The Nightmare let out a growl. "It's okay," Astrid whispered, "It's okay."

She dropped her shield, "I'm not one of them."

The crowd began muttering and gasping, but the Nightmare's eyes slightly dilated, giving her a curious look.

Stoick sat up in his chair, his brows furrowing in anger, "Stop the fight."

"No!" Astrid exclaimed, holding out a hand, "I need you all to see this." The Nightmare's nostrils flared as it began sniffing at her hand. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

"I said stop the fight!" Stoick shouted, slamming his metal hammer against the bars, bending it.

The Nightmare's eyes constricted. Spooked, it snapped at Astrid. She dodged with a surprised shout, scrambling away as the Nightmare let out a blast of fire.

In the ravine, one of Toothless' ear plates twitched, and his head snapped up, his eyes wide before they suddenly turned to slits, a growl escaping his throat.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried out, snatching an axe off the wall beside him. He used it to lift the gate slightly, quickly sliding under it.

Astrid screamed as the Nightmare continued chasing her, and Stoick pushed members of the crowd aside, Cnut and Thora following them as best as they could, though Stoick was very far ahead of them. "Out of my way!"

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, gesturing for Astrid to come toward him before snatching an axe off the ground where the weapon rack had once been standing, chucking it toward the Nightmare. It smacked its head, and it quickly whirled around to face him, running after him.

Stoick wrenched open the gates, jerking a hand toward himself, "This way!"

Astrid quickly ran in, sprinting past Hiccup as he distracted the Nightmare, and Stoick pulled her aside, but before Hiccup could reach the gate, the Nightmare shot a blast of fire at the wall next to him, and he was forced to dodge, running in the opposite direction. The Nightmare quickly tackled him, trapping him under a clawed foot.

Suddenly, a familiar whirring resounded through the air, and a blast of fire exploded against the linked chain roof of the arena. Toothless immediately jumped through the hole, disappearing into the dark smoke.

The crowd watched in awe as the Night Fury and the Nightmare began fighting with each other, the black dragon pulling the larger one away from Hiccup.

"A Night Fury..." Gobber muttered in awe as he watched the beasts fight.

Toothless quickly got the upper hand, snapping at the Nightmare each time it tried to reach Hiccup, and the red dragon scurried off with a growl.

Hiccup quickly scrambled to his feet, trying to push Toothless away, who warbled at him in confusion. "Alright, go, Toothless! Get out of here!"

Vikings began jumping into the ring, their weapons at the ready. Stoick snatched an axe off the wall, running toward them just as Cnut and Thora reached the arena entrance.

"Chief, no!" Astrid shouted, trying to go after him, but Thora grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"Astrid, stop, it's too dangerous!"

Astrid watched helplessly as her father ran into the ring in an attempt to help Stoick. Toothless' eyes darted around the arena, looking trapped and upset. In his panic, began shoving Vikings aside, fighting them off as he tried to keep them away from Hiccup.

"Stop, you're only making it worse!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless suddenly tackled Stoick, trapping him under his feet.

"Toothless, no!"

Toothless inhaled and everyone froze when the familiar hiss of gas began sounded through the air.

"NO!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless swallowed back his fire, looking at Hiccup with wide, confused eyes, warbling helplessly.

Hiccup could only shake his head a little, his eyes pleading and desperate.

Suddenly, a hammer was thrown into Toothless' head, and the Vikings pounced on him again. They wrenched him from Stoick and penned him to the ground.

Hiccup tried to run toward them, but he was held back by Cnut, "No, don't hurt him! Please don't hurt him!"

A Viking held out an axe to Stoick, and Astrid quickly wrenched her arm from Thora, sprinting into the ring and hopping in front of Stoick; her eyes were frightened, but her tone was determined, holding out her arms protectively.

"Chief... don't."

Stoick glared at her, pushing the axe away, "Put it with the others."

His voice was colder than Hiccup's ever heard it.

No one noticed Ruffnut's contemplative gaze following Toothless' every movement as the struggling dragon was forced into one of the cages. She glanced at Hiccup and Astrid for a brief moment as the latter was grabbed by the back of the neck and dragged off by Stoick, while the former had a gentle hand placed on her lower back by Thora, who, along with Cnut, led the girl to follow the chief and their heir.

Ruffnut glanced back at Toothless' cage, and she wanted to hit herself for the way her chest clenched when she heard a pathetic warble resound from the cage.

* * *

Cnut followed Thora as the woman gently led Astrid into the Great Hall with a hand on the small of her back. Stoick, however, was not so gentle, dragging Hiccup by the back of his neck, flinging him inside when they entered, nearly sending the boy to the ground.

"Leave us," Stoick said, his voice still cold.

Thora and Cnut shot him a look, pursing their lips.

"Stoick-" Thora tried, but she was interrupted.

"I said leave us."

Thora and Cnut stared at his back for a long while, their eyes like daggers.

"As you wish, Chief," Thora muttered before she and Cnut turned, glancing back at Astrid for a brief moment, their expressions helpless.

Astrid watched them excite the building, her face both frightened and worried. Thora gave her a supportive look before the two closed the doors behind them. She turned to Stoick.

"I should've known. I should've seen the signs."

"Dad-"

"_We had a deal!_" Stoick roared, and Astrid flinched a little when she saw Hiccup's face dull out in the face of his father's rage.

"Chief-"

"And _you!_" Stoick rounded on her, making her flinch back, "So everything in the ring, a trick? A _lie?_"

"I screwed up," Astrid admitted, "I should've told someone before now. Take this out on me, be mad at me, but please don't hurt Toothless."

"The _dragon? That's_ what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting us, Chief!"

"They've killed _hundreds_ of us!"

"And we've killed_ thousands_ of them!" Hiccup shouted, turning Stoick's attention back on him, "They defend themselves, that's all!"

"He's right!" Astrid added, "They raid us because they _have_ to! If they don't bring enough food back, they get eaten themselves! There's something else on their island, Chief! It's, it's a dragon like-"

"Their _island?_" Stoick interrupted, rounding on her, hissing, "So you've been to the Nest?"

Astrid quickly shook her head, her eyes wide, "Did I say Nest?"

"How did you find it?" Stoick demanded.

"I, I didn't," Astrid protested, "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island."

Hiccup began shaking his head helplessly as he watched his father's face turn into a mixture of hatred and contemplation. "No. No! _Dad!_"

He pushed passed Hiccup and Astrid, walking between them as he stalked toward the door. Astrid watched helplessly as Hiccup protested, her eyes just as panicked as his.

"Dad, no, you don't know what you're up against! It's _nothing_ like you've ever _seen!_"

Stoick kept walking, completely ignoring him.

"Dad, I promise you, you_ can't_ win this one!"

Nothing.

Hiccup ran toward him, trying to grab a hold of his arm, "_For once in your life would you please just __**listen**__ to me!?_"

Stoick suddenly turned, tossing out his arm, the back of his hand catching Hiccup across the cheek, and Astrid let out a shocked sound, her hands shooting up to her mouth as she watched Hiccup fall back to the ground, and suddenly, everything seemed much more quiet than it had been.

Hiccup, in his shock, slowly sat up, bringing a shaky hand to the spot of blood on the corner of his mouth. He ignored Astrid when the girl kneeled next to him, placing her hands on his shoulders to help him sit up. He looked up at Stoick, his brows furrowed but his eyes shocked. Stoick looked surprised for a brief moment before he recovered, dulling his face out into one of coldness.

"You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not Vikings."

He shook his head, and his voice cracked a little over his next words. "You're not my son."

Astrid watched him leave the Great Hall with horror in her eyes, and the man slammed the doors shut, leaving them alone in the dark. She glanced at Hiccup, and her worry for him increased when she saw that his face had been completely removed of all emotions before his let his head fall.

* * *

Outside, Stoick staggered a little, releasing a few shaky breaths before letting his voice bellow across the crowd of waiting Vikings.

"READY THE SHIPS! We're goin' to the Dragon's Nest, and ridding Berk of these beasts once and for all!"

The crowd cheered, slowly dispersing as they left to go prepare for the voyage, but everything seemed to freeze when Gobber made his way over to Stoick, speaking quietly, his expression worried.

"Uh, Stoick... we have a bit of a problem..."

* * *

**Aw, cliffhanger!**

**And please do not give me crap for having Stoick smack Hiccup. They're in the Viking age, and his son was effectively a traitor. He had every right to kill him on the spot, so what he did was completely mild.**

**And, Stormfly didn't come to the rescue, as her hearing is not as good as Toothless'.**


	11. Awakening The Beast

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

* * *

Ruffnut could say that she had been having a perfectly good day; she threw her brother out of bed, she fed her family's pet sheep, she got to tease Hiccup about him and Astrid, then she was gonna get to watch her best friend kill her first dragon.

Yeah, a perfectly good day. Then the gods decided to send everything to the underworld.

Astrid had been talking to a dragon. _Talking_ to it. And then, if that wasn't surprising enough, Hiccup jumped in to save her.

And then a freakin'_ Night Fury_ showed up. And then Hiccup and Astrid _defended_ it.

Ruffnut, for once, had been paying attention to everything. Only the gods knew why she was paying attention; maybe it was the shock. She readily believes that she was the only one who noticed the saddle on the Night Fury's back.

She was the only one who noticed how desperate it was to protect Hiccup.

Ruffnut wanted to punch herself in the face. She wasn't supposed to feel sympathetic! But, that sad, _pathetic_ noise the black dragon had let out made her insides turn. It made her think back to the looks on Hiccup and Astrid's faces; how afraid they were for their... _friend_.

Ruffnut groaned to herself as she backed away from the rest of the recruits, who were at the back of the crowd of Vikings staring up at the Great Hall, waiting for Stoick to come out.

She quietly made her way across the bridge and up to the arena stands. She looked into the ring; two Vikings were stationed at the entrance, probably guarding the dragons in fear that the _traitors_ would come and free them. She glanced around, seeing nothing in the arena aside from the destroyed weapon stand, which was nothing more than a large pile of wood.

She glanced at the two Vikings and, seeing that their backs were to her, quickly jumped into the arena from the stands, landing right next to the cage the Night Fury was kept in.

She glanced at the Vikings again before grabbing the slot used to feed the dragons. She pulled it aside, peaking in; large green eyes met hers, and an odd noise that was a mix of a growl and a warble left the dragon.

"I'm starting to believe you're more trouble than you're worth," Ruffnut muttered before grabbing the release lever, pushing it down and unbarring the gates. She immediately sprinted toward the destroyed weapons stand, crawling under the pile of wood just as the unbarred gate burst open.

She could hear startled shouts, yelling, growling, barking, and a familiar high pitched whistle.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

There was the sound of a small tousle before everything went quiet, aside from some quiet muttering. Suddenly, she heard Gobber's familiar bellow shout out.

"What in Thor's name is goin' on here!?"

"The, the Night Fury..."

"It escaped..."

Ruffnut couldn't hold back her smirk.

* * *

"What do you mean it _escaped?_" Stoick hissed, "We _need_ that dragon to find the Nest."

"Well, it's not happenin', Stoick. The beast ran straight for the woods. There's no way we're goin'a find it."

"Then what do you propose we do, Gobber?"

"We don't need the Night Fury, Stoick," Gobber said, a worried look on his face, "If any dragon'll do, then we just take one from the ring. No biggy."

Stoick let out a gruff sigh before nodding, and he and Gobber began descending the stairs of the Great Hall, Stoick bellowing out orders to the Vikings as they went.

They never noticed the Great Hall's doors crack open, or Hiccup's head peak out slightly, a glare that was a mixture of anger, resignation, and determination in his eyes.

* * *

An hour later, the dark blue Deadly Nadder had been taken from the ring, collared, chained, muzzled so it couldn't breathe fire, and its tail was strapped down so it couldn't throw its spikes. Stoick tore his eyes away from the trapped Nadder to look back at Berk and caught sight of something.

Hiccup was standing on one of the boardwalks, the other recruits directly behind him. The spot of blood on the corner of his mouth was still there, dried up, and his face was surprisingly blank. He had told himself that he wasn't going to be angry with his father. After all, he and Astrid were, effectively, traitors to their tribe. His father had every right to, at the very least, kill them on the spot, and, at the very worst, have them _Blood Eagled_. **[1]**

He supposes he should be thankful.

He locked eyes with his fath-, no, with Stoick; he wasn't his son anymore - before slowly shaking his head, giving one final warning.

Stoick turned away.

"Set sail! We head for Helheim's Gate!"

He glared down at the dark blue Nadder, "Lead us home. _Devil._"

And then they were off.

Once again, Berk was completely emptied out, with the exception of the elderly, the young children, and the recruits.

Today, the Hairy Hooligans will be extinct.

"Told you, you were a loser."

Hiccup whipped his head around, turning to face the rest of the recruits crowded around him. They were all staring at him with looks of confusion and uneasiness, aside from Ruffnut, who looked rather disgruntled, keeping her gaze on the ground.

"Man," Tuffnut muttered, "I've never seen anything like that before. What were you _thinking?_"

Hiccup gave a shrug.

"So, does this make you and Astrid, like... banished or something?" Fishlegs asked a bit hesitantly, and Hiccup gave a silent nod. He knew the laws; he was disowned, and he needed to be off the island by sunrise tomorrow or he could be killed as a trespasser.

"Oh, he's banished, alright," Snotlout shrugged, crossing his arms; his eyes, however, held a look of worry.

"Look," Hiccup finally said, "It wasn't Astrid's fault. And it wasn't _my_ fault. You need to trust me; dragons aren't what we think they are."

"Great," Snotlout muttered, "Now you sound like Ast-whooaah!"

There was a splash when Snotlout hit the water after Hiccup kicked him in; he resurfaced, sputtering and coughing, and everyone looked up at Hiccup, who frowned.

"Listen to me," He said, "We don't have to fight dragons. You have to admit, Astrid did some things in the ring that no Viking has every done before." Everyone glanced between themselves before giving reluctant nods as Snotlout pulled himself out of the water. "Things need to change. Toothless, dragons; none of them are bad, and we need to help our people."

"How are we going to do that?" Fishlegs asked, looking as unconvinced as the rest of them.

Hiccup let a thoughtful look cross his face. "Well, they said that Toothless escaped-"

"Yeah," Ruffnut suddenly grunted, her face looking annoyed, "And you should thank me for that."

Hiccup, along with the others, blinked in surprise. "You... freed Toothless?"

Ruffnut scoffed, crossing her arms and turning away from them. "Yeah. He just... you know, seemed important to you two."

Hiccup grinned a little, seeing a bit of embarrassment on her face at her sympathy. "Thank you, Ruffnut," He said sincerely, and she scoffed again.

"Yeah. Whatever. So, how're we gonna help?"

Hiccup glanced around, freezing when he caught sight of something. Astrid was sitting on one of the high bridges, her face buried in her knees, and an idea struck him.

"You know how we're gonna help?" He grinned, "We're gonna fight the system."

"Alright!" Tuffnut cheered, sharing a fist-bump with his sister, "We're gonna trash stuff!"

"No!" Hiccup said sternly, "Look. Just meet me in the ring in thirty minutes, alright?"

Everyone watched him as he quickly turned on his heel, sprinting toward the wooden stairs of the boardwalk before sharing another look between themselves and shrugging.

* * *

Hiccup slowed his jog into a walk when he reached Astrid before stopping by her side. He waited, and she lifted her head from her knees before letting out a single sniff and wiping her eyes and standing. She glanced back at him, and he pursed his lips a little, though there was a small grin trying to form on his face.

"Why couldn't I have killed her when I found her in the woods?" She murmured, "Wouldn't it be better for everybody?"

"Yup," Hiccup shrugged, "The rest of us probably would've done it. So why didn't you?"

She shot him a look. "Why didn't you kill Toothless?"

"I asked first."

"I don't-" She cut herself off, letting out a sharp sigh, "I don't know. I couldn't."

"Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"Why do you keep saying that?" She snapped, thinking about the time he said 'Can't or Won't?' What does that even mean?

"Can't is hesitance. Won't is bravery; you _chose_ not to kill her."

Astrid furrowed her brows, stuttering a little. "I... I don't know. She just, she looked so scared. If dragons were really the monsters we thought they were, they wouldn't be able to show fear, let alone feel it."

"Right," Hiccup nodded a little, finally letting the grin creep up a little.

Astrid let out a tiny laugh of disbelief, "Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who _wouldn't_ kill a dragon."

"First to train one, though," Hiccup grinned.

Astrid let a small smile appear on her face. "And you're the first to ride one."

Hiccup's grin widened a little. "Astrid the Dragon Trainer, and Hiccup the Dragon Rider. I like that."

Astrid chuckled a little before letting it die out, looking up at him. "Why wouldn't you kill Toothless? You said you gave him sleep medicine; you had the perfect chance."

"Because," Hiccup smiled a little, "He had the perfect moment to kill me, too, but he didn't. And what kind of person would I be if had turned around and killed the one who spared me when he was weak?"

Astrid nodded a little before turning her attention to the ocean. The ships had completely vanished from sight, and she knew that they were long gone by now.

"The tribe's off to commit suicide," Hiccup muttered before letting a small grin emerge on his face, "What're you gonna do about it?"

"I dunno," Astrid shrugged, "Probably something stupid."

"Okay, but you've already done that," Hiccup grinned, "So how about we do something _crazy?_"

* * *

The armada sailed toward a heavy fog, hung like drapes from a low hanging, ominous sky. The ships entered one by one, and visibility dropped immediately. The armada disappeared, drawn into the blinding mist. There was a complete whiteout, nothing remaining but the eerie creaking of wood on water.

Stoick tapped his fingers on the gunwale, glancing back at the Nadder impatiently. Weighted down with chains, it seemed unresponsive.

"Sound your positions!" Stoick ordered, "Stay within earshot!"

"Here!"

"On the length to your stern!"

"On your starboard flank!"

"Three widths to port!"

"Ahead, at your bow!"

"Haven't a clue."

Stoick strained to see passed the fog, massive sea stacks emerging, threatening to tear the ships apart. Gobber pushed through the men manning the boat, Cnut and Thora on either side of him.

"Listen, Stoick," Gobber said, "I was overhearing some of the men just now, and, and, well, you know, some of them were wondering what it is we are up to here? Not, not me, of course. I, I know you're always the man with the plan, but some, not me, are, are wondering if, in fact, there is a plan at all, and what it might be?"

"Find the Nest and take it."

"Oh. Great," Thora muttered irritantly, "So no plan at all."

"Well, it could just be the old Viking throw back," Cnut added.

"Yup," Gobber said, "Send them running."

"Shh," Stoick suddenly commanded, noticing the way the Nadder perked up a little. It began looking around the mist, its head constantly cocking like a bird.

"Step aside," Stoick ordered, taking over the wheel. He began steering, turning the boat in the directions the Nadder pointed its head toward.

* * *

Astrid hopped off of Stormfly when the dragon landed inside the ring, smoothing down her spikes. Hiccup had run off to the ravine to go get Toothless; it would take him a little longer, as the ravine was much farther away than the cove. She glanced over at the sound of muttering, giving Stormfly a small pat before sprinting toward the arena entrance.

The recruits brightened up a little at the sight of Astrid when she greeted them at the entrance.

"So, what's the plan?" Ruffnut asked eagerly, "How're even gonna get to the island?"

Tuffnut suddenly got in her face. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadliest weapon," He grinned, and, just in case she didn't get it, "It's me."

"I _love_ this plan," Snotlout said, pushing him out of the way, "You're _crazy,_ and I like that."

Astrid furrowed her brows in annoyance. So, it's one of his flirting days, is it?

"I think I know what Hiccup has in mind," Fishlegs said as they entered the arena, freezing at the sight of the Nadder in front of them. All the recruits, aside from Astrid, immediately backed away a little.

A black shadow flew overhead, and they looked up, hearing the trademark whirring of a-

"NIGHT FURY!" Tuffnut shouted.

"GET DOWN!" Snotlout added, and they all ducked, but Astrid simply rolled her eyes.

"Calm down. It's Toothless," She said.

"Okay, that is so _not_ toothless," Fishlegs said.

"Whatever," Astrid muttered, running forward to meet them as the dragon and his rider landed. The Night fury nuzzled Astrid with a welcoming croon, and Astrid smiled, letting her head rest against his large one for a moment. "Hey, Toothless."

When she lifted her head, her eyes landed on the slack-jawed recruits.

Hiccup raised a single brow as he hopped off of Toothless, giving them a small smirk.

Astrid shook her head a little before walking toward one of the cages. "Alright, listen up, guys," She said, resting her hand on the lever, "We're gonna be flying to the island."

She unbarred the cage, and the others huddled together with surprised shouts when the cage sprang open to reveal a very surprised Monstrous Nightmare. It blinked in confusion for a brief moment before it snarled, and Toothless and Stormfly let out growls of their own, spreading their wings for intimidation; one of Toothless' wings ended up blocking Hiccup from the Nightmare's line of sight.

Toothless and Stormfly let out annoyed grunts when the other recruits immediately flocked behind Hiccup, and Snotlout grabbed his cousins shoulders, ducking behind him. Hiccup rolled his eyes, patting their scales to calm them down, watching as Astrid circled the arena, unbarring the rest of the cages.

* * *

A distant howl echoed through the choppy waters. Gobber glanced around nervously. Cnut and Thora glanced around, taking in the sight. Stoick hadn't moved a muscle.

A longboat suddenly appeared from the mist, caught up on one of the rock formations, the mast torn, huge holes on the side of the boat. Stoick didn't bat an eyelash, but the other Vikings were looking concerned.

"Oh," Gobber tried to add some humor into the situation, "I was wondering where that went."

There was a sudden crunch as the boat hit land, and a twisted smile formed on Stoick's face. "We're here."

The Vikings glanced around. A loud humming noise was echoing around the island. A small red tail hanging off of one of the ledges of the mountain sudden pulled back and disappeared from sight.

Stoick leaped onto the grey beach. The second his feet touched the stones, the humming stopped, and an eerie, uneasy silence hung in the air.

Stoick straightened up, worry finally crossing his features.

* * *

Astrid lead the Monstrous Nightmare out of its cage, a hand inches above its snout, and its nostrils flared, purring lazily, its eyes lidded, and everyone let out surprised yelps when the protective wings of Toothless and Stormfly suddenly snapped closed; they were finally able to see Astrid at work.

Admiring gasps escaped Fishlegs and the twins, and Hiccup grinned, flicking his head to remove some hair from his eyes. Snotlout, however, looked around nervously. He tried to reach down to grab a spear next to his feet, but Hiccup smacked his shoulder with the back of his hand, giving him a stern look, while Toothless growled in warning.

"Uh-uh."

Astrid lead the Nightmare to Snotlout and grabbed his arm, leading his hand toward the dragon.

Snotlout tried to jerk his hand free, "Wait! What're you-"

"Relax," Astrid said, tightening her hold on his arm, "It's okay. It's okay."

She placed his hand on the Nightmare's snout. The dragon blinked slowly, letting out another purr. Snotlout let out a laugh of shock and awe, amazed that he was actually petting a dragon.

Astrid began to walk away, and he immediately stopped laughing.

"Where're you going!?"

"You're going to want something to help you hang on," Astrid said, digging into the supply box and pulling out circlets of rope.

The class blinked before glancing over, looking at the rest of the freed dragons, who cocked their heads, looking at the kids expectantly.

* * *

Stoick made his way across the beach, stopping at the tunnels mouth and staring into the blackness. He made signal, and one of the Vikings launched another boulder, this one set aflame, and it flew through the tunnel.

The light revealed, hundreds... thousands of dragons inside the tunnel.

With a war cry, Stoick and the other Vikings ran toward the tunnel, and the dragons began to fly out, looking like bats escaping from a cave, and Stoick swung his hammer in all directions, missing each time. The dragons all flew off, over the sea, and the battle was suddenly over in less than five minutes.

"Is that it?" Gobber asked, looking incredulous. He shrugged.

"WE DONE IT!" Spitelout cheered, and all the Vikings joined him.

Stoick grinned a little before catching sight of the dark blue Nadder still trapped on one of the ships. The Nadder was jerking around, squawking in a panic, attempting to escape.

"This isn't over!" Stoick exclaimed, silencing the cheers, "Form your ranks! Hold together!"

He faced the cave, his hammer at the ready.

Suddenly, the ground and the cave began to shake, and a loud screech bellowed from the darkness, the force blowing a wind through the Vikings' clothes, and even pushing some of their boats back.

"GET CLEAR!" Stoick bellowed, jumping from the rocks as the shaking became more and more violent, and something began to emerge from the darkness.

The Vikings ran in a panic, and the mountainside suddenly exploded open, and a gigantic, monstrous dragon head appeared, snapping its jaws furiously.

"Beard of Thor, what _is_ that?" Gobber gasped.

Stoick watched as the monster emerged. "Odin help us," He said quietly.

The monster shook the rocks off its hide and lifted its head to the sky, releasing a bone-chilling roar.

* * *

**Oh no, the Red Death!**

**1) **_The __**blood eagle**__ was a method of execution by torture that is sometimes mentioned in Nordic saga legends. It was performed by cutting the ribs of the victim by the spine, breaking the ribs so they resembled blood-stained wings, and pulling the lungs out through the wounds in the victim's back. Salt was sprinkled in the wounds._

**I'm thinking about uploading another chapter today, so watch out just in case. See, I'm alone all weekend, and I can't really go out because of my leg, so I have nothing better to do :)**


	12. Counter Attack

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**Note: Because there are so many different scenes in this chapter, some words are going to be bold in order to show the scene change. I've read through it, and it's actually easier for me to keep up with the scene changes this way, and I wish I thought of doing this for the first chapter...**

**Disclaimer: Inspiration for this chapter came from the fanfiction called 'The Choice', as well as some ideas given to me through PM by Midoriko-sama.**

* * *

The behemoth of a dragon released another roar, walking forward, the sheer size of it causing the ground to shake and rumble. The Vikings ran as fast as they could, trying to avoid getting stomped on.

"CATAPULTS!" Stoick roared, and many Vikings ran back toward the catapults, firing boulder after boulder. They simply bounced off the beasts thick hide, and it seemed to get angrier.

It snapped its jaws, crushing the catapults in a single bite, and the launchers had to scatter to avoid debris.

"Get to the ships!" Someone yelled. "No! NO!" Stoick cried, but most of the Vikings were already running toward the armada. The dragon lowered its head, a river of fire shooting from its mouth, torching the entire fleet, cutting off any means of escape.

Those who had been on board screamed, plummeting into the sea, and the dark blue Nadder let out a whimper, jerking against its confines as the fire began to surround it.

Stoick, Gobber following close behind, walked speedily toward his awaiting men, spitting to himself, "I was a fool."

He reached Thora and Cnut, giving them orders, "Lead the men to the far side of the island!" They simultaneously gave a single nod before running off to do their job.

"Gobber," Stoick said, "Go with the men."

"I think I'll stay here," Gobber shrugged, "Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

Stoick stopped in his tracks, turning to face Gobber, "I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt."

Gobber grabbed Stoick's hand, grinning, "Then I can double that time."

Stoick smiled, and then the two were running toward the chaos.

"Here!" Stoick shouted, running to the beast's right side.

"No, here!" Gobber yelled, running to its left. The dragon turned to Gobber, then to Stoick.

"Oi!" Gobber shouted, throwing a rock at its head, "I'm over here!"

The dragon turned to Gobber, but Stoick threw a spear at its head, causing it to jerk its attention to him. "No, eat me!"

"No!" Gobber yelled, and the confused creature turned to face him, "Eat _me!_"

The dragon, annoyed, shook its head and then roared, opening its mouth to stream fire at both of them, the hiss of gas resounding quite loudly.

And then something smacked against its head, and it jerked, turning its attention to where the blast came from.

"Toothless, now!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless narrowed his eyes and opened up his mouth. A purple-blue blast flew from the Night Fury's mouth, and the Red Death roared in pain when it exploded against the back of its head before jerking its head to face its attackers.

"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!" Hiccup shouted as they all dodged the Red Death's mouth, arching in the air around the beast, "Move, Fishlegs!"

Below, the fleeing Vikings had frozen, gazing up to gawk at them, and Tuffnut couldn't resist the cheers that left his mouth. "Look at us! We're on dragons! We're on dragons, all of us!"

**Below**, Gobber stepped into place beside Stoick, watching as the riders twisted around to head back toward the giant. "Every bit the stubborn, boar-headed Viking you ever were."

Stoick could only nod.

**Above**, the riders began to circle around just out of reach of the Red Death's jaws - yeah, they had gotten sick of saying 'giant dragon that eats other dragons', and, with its huge, man sized teeth and large red spines, Red Death sounded pretty good. "Fishlegs, break it down!" Hiccup ordered. The others had no problem in following his orders, as he was the one to turn to for battle strategies. Astrid may have been their teacher, but Hiccup was their leader, and he immediately took over after she gave them a crash course on training dragons; after all, he was their future Chief, might as well start following his lead now.

"Okay, heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing! Steer clear of both!" Fishlegs answered, "Small eyes, large nostrils! Relies heavily on hearing and smell!"

"Okay, 'Lout, 'Legs, hang in its blind, make some noise, keep it confused! Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit!" Hiccup smirked at the twins, "Make it mad!"

"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut grinned, but Tuffnut guffawed at her.

"Since when?" He said, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See?" He flipped his poor dragon's head over to hang upside down, making stupid faces and irritating noises, while his dragon head released a growl.

"Just do what I told you!" Hiccup barked, "Astrid and I will be back as soon as we can!" He and Astrid steered Stormfly and Toothless away toward the burning ships, while the others flocked to their respective spots.

"Don't worry, we got it covered!" Snotlout grinned, and he and Tuffnut let out a few cheers as they flew to their destinations, dodging its tail as it swung past them, and Snotlout and Fishlegs began banging on their shields with their hammers.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut grinned as they flew by its head.

"Troll!" He shouted.

"Butt elf!" Ruffnut added.

"Bride of Grendel!"

Ruffnut let out a few cackles at that last one, and the Bride of Grendel roared before shooting a blast of fire at them, and Ruffnut let out an elated shout as they speedily dodged.

Fishlegs slowly stopped batting at his shield, his eyes widening when the eye of the beast he was next to snapped to him, and two more beside it opened up.

"Um," He stuttered, "This thing doesn't have a blind spot!"

**In the air**, Stormfly followed Toothless as Hiccup had the Night Fury circle over the burning ships, he and Astrid keeping an eye out for the Nadder. Hearing a distressed squawk turned their attention to one of the middle ships, and Astrid took notice of the dark blue figure through the flames.

"There!" She shouted, and she and Hiccup immediately ducked toward it. Toothless and Stormfly dodged the flames before landing on the ship, and the dark blue Nadder squawked at the sight of them, Stormfly giving an answering sound.

They immediately dismounted their respective dragons, and Astrid quickly ran toward the Nadder, removing its muzzle. It shrieked, and Astrid held up a placating hand, smoothing down its head spikes.

"Okay, hold on, hold on," She murmured, trying to keep it calm as Hiccup worked on pulling away the chains, though they weren't budging in the slightest.

**Above**, Fishlegs and Snotlout continued to beat their shields, and they smiled triumphantly when the beast let out a small roar, his six eyes blinking rapidly as it shook its head a little.

"It's working!" Snotlout cheered.

"Yeah, it's working!" Fishlegs added.

Neither of them noticed how their respective dragons began shaking in confusion as well, and the Nightmare Snotlout was on lost its direction, smacking right into the head of the Red Death, throwing Snotlout off of it. Snotlout flew over the beast's head, sliding toward the end before coming to a stop; he lost his shield and hammer, and he flailed his arms in an attempt to keep his balance.

"I've lost power on the Gronkle!" Fishlegs shouted when he realized his confused dragon was beginning to twist into a fall. He threw Snotlout his hammer, who instinctively caught it. "Snotlout! Do something!"

Fishlegs dropped his shield, covering his eyes and screaming as he and the Gronkle began falling.

He opened his eyes when they hit the ground, holding up his arms triumphantly. "I'm okay!"

And then the Gronkle slid upward, its body flipping over and crushing Fishlegs into the ground. He held up a hand as best as he could, his voice feeble, "Less okay."

"I can't miss!" Snotlout grinned, bashing his hammer into one of the beast's eyes, which blinked rapidly, "Yeah, what's wrong, buddy? Got something in your eye?"

The beast let out a roar, stepping forward, and Fishlegs let out a scream, trying to crawl out from under the Gronkle before its foot came down. He covered his head and, luckily, the beast's foot missed him.

The twins rounded their Zippleback, catching sight of Snotlout's work.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut cheered, "You're the _Viking!_"

"You're damn right I'm the Viking!" Snotlout cheered back before letting out a surprised shout when the beast threw its head back, causing him to fall. Luckily, he was able to grab a hold of one of the beast's many spines, catching himself from falling.

"Whoa!" He shouted, seeing how high above the ground he was.

**Below**, the fire on the ship was getting more and more wild, and Toothless and Stormfly let out a few panicked sounds, trying to use their wings to shield their riders with their fire proof hide.

The boat suddenly rocked, a heavy thump resounding behind them, and they turned to the source, finding Stoick standing up straight behind them, a look of determination plastered on his face. He briskly walked toward them, gently shoving Astrid and Hiccup aside. The Nadder growled at him, but he ignored it, grabbing the large wooden collar around its neck and, after a brief struggle, snapping it open.

The Nadder began shaking off, letting out a few squawks. Astrid immediately reached out to it again, patting its scales and murmuring quiet words to it, Stormfly squawking behind her in an attempt to convince the dark blue dragon to help them face their shared enemy.

Hiccup and Astrid glanced up at Stoick, who gave them a single nod. They nodded back before mounting their respective dragons, and Stormfly jerked her head at the darker Nadder letting out a chirp in what was obviously an order to follow.

Before they could take off, however, a hand suddenly grabbed a hold of Hiccup's wrist, and he glanced over at his father, hearing the bellow of the beast somewhere in the distance.

"Hiccup, I'm," Stoick stumbled over his words a little, but his tone was very sincere, "I'm sorry. For, for everything."

"Yeah, me too," Hiccup let a small smile grace his lips.

"You don't have to go up there." Stoick's voice sounded a bit pleading.

Hiccup smirked this time. "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard."

Astrid smiled along with Stoick, who squeezed Hiccup's hand. "I'm _proud_ to call you my son."

Hiccup's face slackened in surprise, though his words were elated. "Thanks... Dad."

Hiccup squeezed his father's hand back for a brief moment before grabbing a hold of Toothless' saddle. Astrid gave the dark blue Nadder an order before they took to the air, and the Nadder followed, snatching up Stoick into its claws. It dropped him off on the grey beach before following Hiccup and Astrid toward the Red Death.

**Above**, a sudden blast of fire shot past the twins, smacking right into the Red Death's wing. Astrid came forward, flying on Stormfly, her eyes fixed on the Red Death, the dark blue Deadly Nadder following up behind her.

The dark blue Nadder shot fire at the Red Death's wing again, and the beast bellowed out a roar, snapping at the air furiously, trying to catch the two with its teeth.

"Get Snotlout out of there!" Astrid ordered before steering Stormfly around to shoot at the Red Death again in an attempt to distract it from their Zippleback, but Hiccup beat her to the punch. Toothless appeared from what seemed like nowhere, letting out an exploding ball of fire at the monster's side before he disappeared somewhere behind the beast.

"I'm on it!" The twins shouted at once, causing them to enter into another argument.

"I'm on it first! I'm ahead of you!" Tuffnut shoved Ruff, and she immediately shoved him back, their fighting causing the two Zippleback head to bash into each other, though the dragon managed to stay on course just fine.

"We're on the same dragon, idiot!"

"Let me drive!"

The Zippleback flew past the Red Death's head, and Snotlout took a running leap, landing right where the Zippleback's necks met.

"Whoa!" Tuff smiled, "I can't believe that worked!"

"Get Snotlout back on the Nightmare!" Hiccup ordered as he and Toothless appeared from around the beast's head, and the twins immediately directed their Zippleback into a dive, letting Snotlout hop to the ground next to his awaiting Nightmare.

"Where's Fishlegs?" Hiccup shouted.

"Here!" Fishlegs' voice was a bit muffled, coming from somewhere down at the Red Death's feet, barely heard over all the roaring and yelling, "We're okay!"

"Get back on the Gronkle!" Hiccup ordered, "We need to lead this thing further away from the people!" He directed Toothless upward, and they all immediately followed.

Astrid led her two Nadders into a dive, and the dragons simultaneously released a blast of fire right into the Red Death's face. The beast released a thundering roar, and everyone immediately scattered when it opened its mouth, and they all watched wide eyed at the stream of fire that poured out.

It was different than the fire they were used to, and they all watched in amazement as it poured out like a river.

"Ruff, Tuff, go for it!" Hiccup ordered, "Now!"

Ruffnut patted her head, which immediately released a douse of gas over the left wing.

"Light," Tuffnut ordered, and his head released a spark, the resulting explosion nearly throwing them off of their dragon, covering everything in smoke for a brief moment.

"Whoa!" Ruffnut laughed as they burst out of the smoke, "We almost died!"

"I know," Tuffnut grinned, "You wanna do it again?"

"Ruff, Tuff, get clear! Astrid, now!"

The two Nadders released another blast, and the dark blue Nadder released a volley of spikes into the monster's wings before everyone sped out of the smoke and into the cleaner air, circling the air above the beast's head as they had before. The beast stomped after them with frustrated bellows, leaving the armada of Vikings below further and further behind.

Fishlegs suddenly came flying up on his Gronkle, and the Nightmare followed close behind, "Alright, we're up!"

"Okay!" Hiccup answered before barking out another order, "Get ready!"

Toothless let out another plasma blast, catching the Red Death right in the face, and the beast let out another roar and a stream of fire, which everyone easily dodged.

Several of the monster's eyes were swollen shut, but its wings seemed undamaged; however, the dark blue Nadder's spikes were deeply embedded into its left wing.

"Go!" Hiccup shouted, and Snotlout direct his Nightmare to fire; the beast jerked around to focus on its attacker, but Toothless was quick enough to distract it with a plasma blast to the face, giving Snotlout enough time to get away.

"Hiccup, we're nearing our shot limits!" Fishlegs shouted, "And it's not weakening! What'd we do now?"

"Alright, I'm gonna see if it can still use its wings!" Hiccup shouted, "The rest of you need to block its way back to the people. I'm taking this battle to the air!"

"_What?_" Astrid shrieked, "Hiccup, you can't do this alone!"

"I have to, Astrid!"

"_We don't have time for fighting, you idiots!_" Ruffnut screamed, "_Duck!_"

Astrid and Hiccup directed their respective dragons to dodge another blast of fire from the giant, and immediately went back to arguing, and everyone could've sworn they saw the Night Fury roll his eyes.

"Toothless is the fasted dragon here!" Hiccup shouted, frustrated, "It's our only chance!"

"Hiccup-"

"Can't you two do this later?" Fishlegs yelled as they all dodged a swing from the beast's tail, "We're kind of in the middle of a death defying battle here!"

"Look, the plan's not working, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, "I have to do _something!_"

"Well, at least take me with you!"

"_No!_"

"Do you two wanna die?" Snotlout shouted, glancing back at the bellowing beast as it snapped at them with its teeth in its frustration.

"If we die, I'm gonna kill them over and over again when we meet in Valhalla!" Ruffnut grunted, sharing an irritant look with her brother before they took matters into their own hands, directing their Zippleback to twist around.

The twins zoomed past Astrid, and Fishlegs and Snotlout followed their lead as the beast opened its mouth once more.

The sound of suction was heard, and Astrid, Stormfly, and her second Nadder were pulled toward the bottomless pit mouth.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut screamed, attempting to turn her dragon head around, but only succeeded in confusing it as its second head stayed pointed forward.

There was a familiar whirring, and a few familiar voices bellowed from below.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Purple-blue light exploded against the creature's mouth, pushing Stormfly and the dark blue Nadder out of the way, the two dragons rolling haphazardly in the air as they tried to regain their balance, and Astrid was knocked from Stormfly's back, falling, screaming, and flailing as she plummeted towards the ground.

A black shadow suddenly swept past her at the last moment, and Toothless swept her into the air with his claws, holding her by the ankle.

"Did you get her?" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless ducked his head to look down, catching sight of Astrid. She glanced at the ground for a brief moment before looking up at Toothless. She smiled at him, and he released a happy croon, smiling one of his gummy smiles.

Toothless flew up to meet with the others, and Hiccup jerked his hand, pointing to the ground. "Go!" He ordered, and everyone immediately followed him into a dive toward the Vikings below.

Toothless flipped Astrid so that he was holding her by her shoulders before he dropped her, climbing into the air again; the girl ran forward a little to regain her balance before stopping, watching as Toothless landed next to her.

Everyone landed and dismounted their dragons, and they all immediately flocked towards Astrid, standing in an almost line beside her, looking up at Hiccup, who still sat atop Toothless.

"Look," Hiccup said, "We don't have time for arguing. We need to get everyone to safety, and Toothless is the only dragon fast enough to safely bait it."

"But, Hiccup-"

"No, Astrid," He said sternly, "I _need_ to do this."

They stood in a small staring match for a brief moment before Hiccup patted Toothless, and the two took to the air without once looking back, not waiting for Astrid to give a nod of consent.

Something squawked behind them, and they all turned their attention to the two Nadders just as Stormfly nudged Astrid's back. Astrid turned to face her, and the day colored dragon nudged her again, almost looking apologetic, and Astrid gave her a small smile, scratching her chin a little. "It's alright, girl. It wasn't your fault. I'm okay," Astrid said, cupping the Nadder's face with both hands. She squawked before running her tongue over Astrid's face, and the girl winced but laughed a little as she tried to remove the slime.

"Astrid!"

The small girl was suddenly in a bone crushing hug, lifted off the ground, and spun around before she was dropped on her feet again, only to be swept up in another embrace. Astrid looked over her mother's shoulder, seeing the others get bombarded by their parents as well.

"Oh, Astrid!" Her mother shouted, sounding as if she had been crying, and Astrid struggled to breath through her too tight grip.

"Mom... please..." Thora released her a little reluctantly, and Astrid finally took notice of the crowd of Vikings all around them. Their eyes were full of worry, and she could tell that they were all trying to keep their panic on the inside. Cnut placed a meaty hand on Astrid's shoulder, looking as if he was trying to keep himself from hugging her again, "You ever do anything like that again, and you'll be sleeping in the barn for a _month._"

Astrid gave him a small smile, but her attention was turned to the slightly parting crowd as Stoick and Gobber shoved their way through. "Astrid!" Stoick bellowed, desperately clutching her shoulders, his eyes pleading, "Where's Hiccup?" Astrid shook her head a little, her eyes watery, and she opened her mouth to speak.

Suddenly, a familiar high-pitched whirring was heard from above, and everyone immediately turned their attention back to the sky.

**Above**, Hiccup, atop Toothless, glanced down at the Red Death as they climbed higher and higher into the sky, watching as it reared its head back. He patted Toothless a little. "Okay, Toothless, let's see if it can still use those wings."

Toothless immediately halted his ascension, twisting in the air, dive-bombing straight toward the Red Death, creating his trademark high-pitched whirring whistle.

He released a plasma blast, catching the beast right on the side of the neck, and it toppled over with a terrible roar and an enormous crash.

**Below**, the audience of Vikings, with familiar faces taking up the front of the crowd, began to shield themselves as gigantic, scarred wings began to unfold.

* * *

**And next chapter is the final battle! Although, I'm sure you can easily guess what's going to happen next :)**


	13. Final Strike

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**Disclaimer: Inspiration for the battle comes from 'The Choice,' as well as some ideas given to me through PM from Midoriko-sama.**

* * *

It seemed as though the entire sky was being blocked out, the wings were so huge, and dust and small rocks showered them as the wings lifted, turning their world dark. They _had_ damages the wings; Astrid could see large patches of weakened flesh, a lighter shade of grey compared to the rest of them, as well as the deeply embedded spikes within it from the Nadder.

"Brace yourselves!" Stoick shouted, and everyone ran as far back as they could as the wings swept downwards, showering them with smog and dust, blowing them completely off their feet, and the Red Death took to the sky.

**Above**, Hiccup glanced behind him before turning his attention forward, addressing Toothless. "Think that did it?"

Suddenly, there was a massive roar as the Red Death climbed into the air directly behind them, thundering booms resounding through the air with every powerful beat of its wings.

"Well, it can fly," Hiccup muttered before steering Toothless into a dive, and the two headed straight toward a maze of rock formations, barely noticeable through the smog. They flew between rocks, dodging formations and the snap of the Red Death's teeth, but the colossal dragon paid no heed to the maze around it, smashing through the rocks with a roar.

**Below**, the Vikings stood and stared as Toothless shot past, the huge beast right on his tail, rocks and debris showering them as the Red Death knocked down every pillar in its path. The recruits, with the exception of Astrid, grinned and joined in on the wild cheering of the crowd, ducking along with everyone else when another pillar was smashed a little too close to them.

**Above**, Hiccup glanced behind him as Toothless dodged another snap of teeth, seeing blood from its wounded mouth splatter around him. He glanced up for a brief moment, doing a double take, his attention caught by the darkness of the clouds above.

Hiccup gave Toothless a small pat to get his attention. "Okay, Toothless," He said, "Time to disappear."

Toothless let out a grunt of agreement, and Hiccup pressed down on the stirrup pedal. Toothless immediately arched upward, climbing higher into the sky, dodging another snap of teeth as the Red Death followed.

Suddenly, he heard the hiss of gas behind him. "Here it comes!" He shouted, and Toothless ducked to the side, dodging the stream of fire as it shot past them, shooting into the smoke and black clouds, vanishing completely.

The Red Death paused in its pursuit, letting out a frustrated growl as it twisted from side to side, searching.

**Below**, the cheering died as everyone searched the skies, hearing the echoes of a few thundering growls the Red Death released.

"What is he doing?" Fishlegs asked quietly, afraid to disrupt the sudden silence.

"He should've let me go with him," Astrid said a bit tensely, making a move to climb onto Stormfly.

Ruffnut grabbed her arm a bit harshly. "Stormfly can't keep up with Toothless, and carrying two Vikings wouldn't have done him any good. You'd only get in his way, and _all_ of you'd be killed."

"I can't just leave him up there alone!" Astrid shouted, trying to wrench her arm free from Ruffnut's grasp, but Cnut and Thora stepped in, the large man placing his hands firmly on her shoulders, keeping her still.

"Astrid," Thora said sternly through her daughter's struggles, "There is nothing you can do. The Night Fury is clearly the fastest dragon here. Ruffnut's right; you'd only get in his way, and then _you_ would be responsible for your deaths."

"But, Hiccup-"

"Quiet," Stoick ordered, his voice almost silent, not taking his attention away from the sky, and everyone immediately silenced themselves, trying to peer into the smog of clouds as well.

**Above**, the Red Death continued twisting around, its growls growing more and more frustrated. Suddenly, there was a familiar high pitched whistle, and a black figure shot past.

The Red Death released a roar when purple-blue fire hit it right on one of the weak spots of its wings, twisting around to find its attacker.

Hiccup and Toothless continued their pattern, zooming around the beast back and forth, releasing plasma blasts directly onto the weakened flesh of the wings, as well as the embedded spikes, creating decent sized holes as the spikes were shot through, Toothless' high pitched whistle escaping him each time.

**Below**, gasps were heard when there was a sudden explosion, like thunder, and, for a brief moment, the Red Death was silhouetted in the sky under a blue light. Then, another explosion lit up the sky. Then another, and another.

Toothless was going in from all directions, concealed by the darkness, and the silhouette of the beast twisted and turned, searching for its enemy, releasing frustrated roars.

"He's using Toothless' ability to disappear in the dark against it," Fishlegs smiled, "That's amazing."

**Above**, the Red Death released a furious roar, piling up gas before letting loose a stream of one of its river-fires, twisting around haphazardly, filling up the sky with orange flames.

Hiccup glanced behind at the oncoming flames. "Watch out!" Toothless immediately ducked downwards, but one litter flicker latched onto his artificial tail fin. Hiccup glanced back at the tail fin, his worry growing at the sight of the fire attached to it, and now, with the orange glow on Toothless' tail, the Red Death would be able to spot them easily.

"Okay," Hiccup said uneasily, "Time's up. Let's see if this works." Toothless halted, twisting backwards in the air, flying straight towards the beast. "C'mon!" Hiccup taunted, "That the best you can do!?"

Toothless released a roar of his own, dodging the snapping teeth before dive-bombing straight downwards. The Red Death roared, immediately following after them.

Hiccup tested out the stirrup pedal, but it was rendered useless as the fire burned the artificial tail fin away. "Stay with me, bud, we're good, just a little bit longer!" He said as Toothless flapped his wings awkwardly in an attempt to stay aloft.

Hearing the hiss of gas behind him, Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut. "Hold, Toothless." He waited until the hiss grew louder and louder before suddenly snapping his eyes open.

_Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?_

"NOW!"

Toothless somersaulted in mid-air and delivered a single, small blast straight into the Red Death's gaping, gas-filled mouth.

The thing practically exploded, fire consuming its mouth and nostrils, and Hiccup knew it was travelling downward into its belly, following the trail of gas. Toothless stayed facing the beast, allowing himself to fall backwards as they burst through the smog.

**Below**, everyone winced when they heard a thundering roar, searching the sky.

"Where is he?" Stoick shouted.

"There!" Astrid pointed.

A tiny black dot burst through the smog, speeding towards the ground at breakneck speed, and, even from a distance, it was easy to see the orange glow of the fire latched onto the Night Fury's artificial tail fin. Behind him, the Red Death followed, its mouth opened wide, fire storming through its mouth and nostrils.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, her worry increasing at the sight of the artificial tail fin quickly coming apart, and she made another move to Stormfly, wrenching free from her father's hold in his distracted state.

"Astrid!" Cnut shouted as she mounted Stormfly, the two quickly taking to the air.

**Above**, the Red Death's remaining eyes widened when the ground suddenly came into sight through the smog before spreading its wings in an attempt to catch itself. The damage the recruits and Hiccup delivered to it, however, increased with the speed of their descent, the holes increasing in size, tearing through the membrane of the wings.

Toothless twisted around to face downwards before spreading his wings, catching himself and flying safely through one of the gaping holes in the beast's wings.

And then, the Red Death impacted with the ground.

**Below**, everyone ducked their head, rushing back to get out of the way as the Red Death hit the ground, resulting in an explosion that could be heard all the way in Asgard. The ground shook as it hit, and the explosion threw everyone off their feet.

Everyone was flung aside with the explosion, and the recruits flew back as well, ending up in a heap of limbs on the ground as ash and smoke spread throughout the island.

**Above**, Hiccup and Toothless zoomed across the beast's back, weaving around its giant spines as they tried to outrun - or out-fly, maybe - the speedily spreading fire.

Hiccup attempted to use the pedal again, but the artificial tail fin finally burnt out and flew right off of Toothless. Hiccup glanced back at it as it fell back before turning his attention ahead, his eyes widening at the sight of the beast's giant tail falling straight toward them.

"No," He muttered as he tried to steer Toothless away, and the dragon desperately flapped his wings, "_No!_"

The tail crashed straight into them, and, at the angle they were in, Hiccup took the brunt of the blow, tearing him straight from Toothless' saddle, and he immediately fell unconscious.

Toothless let out a desperate warble as he spun haphazardly in the air, watching as Hiccup fell straight toward the inferno below, just past Astrid as she finally reached him on Stormfly.

"Hiccup!" She cried, attempting to reach out to him as his unconscious form sailed past her, and she lost her balance, falling from Stormfly.

Stormfly let out distressed squawk, flying past Toothless as he fell, the black dragon's eyes never leaving Hiccup's form. Astrid reached out her hands, nearly close enough to grab Hiccup, but she let out a shout when she was jerked back, Stormfly carrying her away from the fire in her claws, away from Hiccup.

Toothless narrowed his eyes, determination setting in, and dive-bombed straight for Hiccup, right past Stormfly as she flew away from the inferno with a screaming and struggling Astrid in her claws, and the boy and the black dragon disappeared into the storm of fire below.

**Below**, Astrid coughed and choked out dust as Stormfly set her down next to the pile of recruits. She immediately twisted around, her watery eyes desperately searching through the smog of ash and dust for a sign of Hiccup. She heard a cough and, distracted, she glanced down at the pile of recruits, watching as Fishlegs tried to sit up.

She bent down a little, offering a hand.

"Thanks," He mumbled feebly, taking her offered hand as she tried to help him stand up. She suddenly gasped, her eyes widening in realization and remembrance, and she immediately let go of Fishlegs' hand, letting the boy fall back with a startled shout as she spun on her heel.

"Hiccup!" She screamed, running through the fog of ash, dust, and smog, Stormfly quickly following behind her.

"Hiccup!" Stoick's voice joined hers, "_Hiccup!_ SON!"

The smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in the air, and there was no roar, no growl, not a single sound that indicated the Red Death's survival. As the dust cleared, and Astrid tried her best to weave her way through the crowd, Stormfly following behind her, batting away those who did not move away in time with her snout, Astrid could not see it anywhere; it was if it had burnt away into nothing after the explosion.

Astrid finally reached the front of the crowd, and she heard Gobber push his way through after her, and she froze at the sight in front of her.

Stoick was over there, kneeling, his head hung beside a fallen black dragon. Toothless gave an exhausted groan, slowly rolling over, and she could see his artificial tail fin was missing.

His saddle was empty.

Riderless.

Something strange lodged itself into her chest, something like fear, or panic, or maybe both, and her vision began to blur, her breathing becoming heavy.

_No._

She could've sworn her heart stopped as she just stood there, staring at the empty space where Hiccup_ should_ be, _and why isn't he there?_ She should be over there, helping, but her feet refused to carry her, and she felt completely numb.

_Hiccup._

The panic began to increase, and she didn't even realize that Stormfly was warbling next to her, nuzzling the small of her back. She swallowed heavily, trying to hold back the tears, but a few slipped by.

_Where is Hiccup?_

He's not dead. He's not. He can't be dead.

_No._

"Oh, son," She barely heard Stoick whisper, his voice filled with the grief of a parent who outlived their child, "I did this."

Toothless let out another groan, and he groggily blinked his green eyes open. They landed directly on Stoick, narrowed in exhaustion.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she took notice of the crowd removing their helmets, lowering their heads in silent respect, _but they shouldn't do that because he's not dead_, and the dragons joined the back of the crowd, the Nightmare, Zippleback, and spare Nadder lifting their heads to see above the people's heads.

"Oh, son," Stoick breathed, "I'm so, I'm so sorry."

Toothless' eyes widened for a brief moment before they turned their attention to his folded wings. Slowly he unfurled him and, within the grasp of his legs was -

"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted, and Astrid's head jerked up, and she was finally able to move her feet. She sprinted towards Stoick, vaguely aware of Stormfly following after her, and dropped to her knees next to the large man.

Stoick snatched his son into his own grasp, taking his chin in his hand to point his face straight ahead before brushing hair out of his face. He jerked his helmet off, resting his ear against Hiccup's chest, and Astrid could've sworn she heard a sob of relief.

"He's alive!" Stoick's voice cracked, "Oh, you brought 'em back alive!"

The cheering was a distant sound in her ears as she breathed a laughing sob of relief, bringing a hand over her mouth to hold it back.

Stoick laid a hand on Toothless' head. "Thank you," He said sincerely, "For saving my son."

Gobber suddenly walked up behind them, his face rather grim as he kept his gaze toward Hiccup's lower half. "Well, you know. Most of 'em."

_Most of him...?_

She glanced down and instantly regretted it.

_The blood, the bone, the charred skin, his moaning..._

She was only lightly aware of the quick footsteps approaching, and she glanced over in time to see her mother and Hiccup's Uncle Spitelout kneel next to them. Thora gently pushed her aside, taking her spot, blocking her view of Hiccup's injury; she wasn't able to see the full extent of the wound through Spitelout and Thora's backs when the woman lifted the pant leg to check.

Thora's face turned grim as she lowered the pant leg back down, and she looked at Stoick and shook her head. "Stoick, he needs help. _Now._ And we can't do anything; all of our supplies was destroyed with the ships."

Astrid was too numb to speak, and, luckily, Snotlout made the offer for her. "We can take him back by dragon."

"Yeah," Fishlegs added, "Flying would be the fastest way to get there, and whoever takes him can have ships sent out here to bring everyone home."

"Right," Stoick nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but Astrid quickly interrupted.

"I can take him back."

"Astrid-"

"_I'll_ take him back," She cut Thora off, the tone of her voice letting everyone know that would not be changing her mind. But, she understood their concerns; the only people left on Berk were the elderly and the young children, and they needed someone strong enough to carry Hiccup to Elder Gothi.

"Okay," Stoick conceded before turning his attention to the recruits, "She'll need an escort."

"I'll do it," Snotlout offered; a good thing, too, as, next to Fishlegs and Hiccup, he was the strongest member of their group and could easily take Hiccup to the Elder.

"I'll go, too," Ruffnut said as Snotlout mounted his Nightmare. Stoick nodded his consent, and she hopped atop her Zippleback head before turning her attention to Tuffnut. "Tuff?"

"Nah, you go ahead," He said, "I'll stay here and help salvage whatever we can."

"Okay," She nodded before looking back at Stormfly, watching as Stoick, Cnut, and Spitelout carefully strapped Hiccup to the Nadder's back. Toothless was warbling pathetically, his attention solely on the injured boy, and Astrid knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his head.

"I'm sorry, Toothless," She said quietly, "You'll have to wait for the ships." Toothless let out another sound, and she soothingly rubbed his head. "It's okay, Toothless, we're going to help him, but we can't do it here. Toothless, he needs help. _Now._"

Toothless looked at her for a long moment before releasing a consenting croon, and Astrid gave a weak smile, patting his head one last time before hopping onto Stormfly behind Hiccup, placing her hands on him to keep him still despite his body being tied securely to the dragon.

Stoick grabbed her hand. "Keep my son safe. I'll be back to see him soon, tell him that."

"Yes, sir," She whispered, trying to keep her voice from shaking, and then the three riders took to the sky, hearing Toothless' mournful cry behind them. The sound tore at her chest, and more tears welled.

Astrid glanced over at Ruffnut on her left side; the girl was patting the vacant head in a silent order to follow the mounted head's movements. She glanced to her right at Snotlout; he was strangely quiet, looking unusually grim, and Astrid wasn't sure how she felt about such an expression on his face.

"How is he?" Ruffnut suddenly asked, and, instinctively, Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's face, feeling his temperature.

"Fever," She muttered hoarsely, and she heard Snotlout curse quietly beside her.

"Is he going to make it?" Snotlout asked, his voice barely reaching her ears.

"If," She stuttered, "If he overcomes the poison and infection of the wounds, he'll live."

Her words put them in an awful silence, and Astrid bit her lip.

"I should've gone with him."

"Don't start _again_, Astrid," Ruffnut rolled her eyes, "Like I said before, you would've only gotten in his way, and things would be much worse than they are now."

"She's right, Astrid," Snotlout added, "Hiccup did what needed to be done."

She knew that; she did. But, there was a small part of her that believed she could've done something to help. Like, if she had followed him on Stormfly, or, maybe, used Stormfly's spikes to distract it... _something_.

"I was so close," She whispered, "He was _right there._ I could've caught him."

She glanced down at him, watching his brows furrow, watching as he breathed heavily and sharply, the pain getting to him even in his unconscious state, awake enough to feel it, and she pursed her lips in an attempt to stop their trembling.

They flew the rest of the way in silence, and they reached Berk just as the sun began lowering, turning the sky a bright orange. They were met with elders, looking quite out of place with their torches and axes, but, once they saw that the dragons were being ridden, the weapons were lowered in shock.

When they landed, Snotlout immediately dismounted his Nightmare and unstrapped Hiccup from Stormfly. He carried him piggy-back style, Hiccup's head and arms hanging limply over his shoulders, and he determinedly ignored the blood seeping onto his pants and shirt from Hiccup's leg as he sprinted past the shocked villagers toward the Elder's home.

Ruffnut and Astrid followed his lead, sliding off of their dragons, and Ruffnut began barking out orders. "The warriors are fine, but we need to send ships out for them! They're stuck on the island! We're gonna need to use a dragon to find them, so follow my lead!"

Too shocked to ignore the orders, the elders immediately scattered, readying ships to send out to the island. Ruffnut followed them, allowing them to use her Zippleback to find the place, leaving Astrid to sprint after Snotlout.

Ruffnut's Zippleback followed after her as she led the elders to their remaining ships, and Stormfly and the Nightmare followed after Astrid and Snotlout. The two ran as fast as they could up the winding stairs of the Elder's high house, and Stormfly and the Nightmare took to the sky, landing on the porch just as the two reached it, and Astrid immediately began banging on the door.

The Elder answered, and, if she was shocked by the sight of the dragons, she didn't show it, her attention solely on Hiccup. Astrid didn't think that Hiccup had a close relationship with his great-grandmother, but those thoughts left her when she saw more emotions in the old woman's eyes than she's ever seen. The Elder immediately stepped aside, allowing Snotlout to carry Hiccup in, and she directed him to the bed in the corner of the room.

Snotlout carefully laid Hiccup down as the Elder scoured through her medic shelf, grabbing the supplies she needed.

Astrid made a gesture to the dragons, giving them a silent order to stay outside as she watched the Elder closely. She used a scalpel to cut away Hiccup's bloody pant leg, and Snotlout and Astrid cringed at the sight of the wound, looking away.

There was bone and blood and charred skin, and Astrid was positive she saw teeth marks somewhere in there. So, Toothless had been so desperate to save Hiccup that he resorted to using his teeth to catch him.

The Elder tapped Astrid on the arm, catching the girl's attention, and the older woman held up a large leather band. Confused, Astrid grabbed it, furrowing her brows at her. "Why do we need a tourniquet...?"

The Elder simply stared at her, her face free of emotion but her eyes grim, and Astrid wanted to cry again. She was a healer; she knew, she _knew_ he couldn't keep that leg, but some part of her hoped...

Her face scrunched up as she tried to hold back the tears. It wasn't fair. This was _Hiccup._ Kind, genius, hot-tempered Hiccup who was always there for her when she needed him. Why was he the _only_ one injured? The _only_ one to lose a limb?

Snotlout crossed his arms, determinedly keeping his eyes anywhere but on Hiccup's prone form as Astrid slowly made her way to the injured boy's side. The Elder tapped him, catching his attention, and made a gesture over to Hiccup, and Snotlout knew that he was going to have to hold him down.

Pursing his lips, Snotlout walked beside Astrid, stopping by Hiccup's head and placing his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders. He jerked when Astrid grabbed his leg as gently as she could, sliding the tourniquet into place right where the injury began somewhere in the middle of his shin. It was much worse than she thought, with pieces of bone and blood and blackened flesh. Quickly and efficiently, she yanked the tourniquet into place.

Hiccup made a strangled sound, his body arching with his agony, and Snotlout did his best to keep him in place.

Astrid cringed, biting her lip and immediately looking away as the Elder checked her work, making sure the tourniquet was tight enough. She gave a single nod before gesturing for them to leave. They've done all they could to help, and now they had to wait for the ships to return with men who were strong enough to remove the leg, while the Elder worked on the less serious injuries instead.

Snotlout released a shaky sigh, and he followed Astrid as they excited the Elder's home, stopping on the porch, taking in the comforting nuzzles of their dragons.

And now they wait.

* * *

**Okay, Hiccup's all jacked up...**

_A** tourniquet**, just in case people don't know, is a band used to block the blood flow. It's only used during emergencies, like if you are unable to reach a hospital in time and desperately need to stop a wound from bleeding out. It's also helpful for amputations, keeping the blood from flowing into whatever limb that needs to go. In Hiccup's case, it's being used for both scenarios; keeping him from bleeding out, as well as stopping the blood flow into his leg._

**Um, I think there's going to be, maybe one more chapter, maybe two more, I'm not completely sure yet. I have to get it written first, so...**


	14. Coming Back Around

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.**

**Last Chapter! :)**

* * *

Astrid breathed a shaky sigh through her nose as she spread the pale green, sweet smelling slave along the burn marks on Hiccup's face. Snotlout had taken his Nightmare into the village, deciding to help the villagers prepare for the return of the defeated voyagers. She had decided to re-enter the Elder's hut in hopes that there was anything else she could do to help Hiccup, which was, frustratingly, very little.

He was... sort of awake; delirious, but barely conscious, and he made odd, slurred, not-all-there words that made Astrid cringe, squinting her eyes to fight the tears.

She started at the sound of heavy thumps, coming from the roof, and she jerked her head toward the ceiling in confusion. Suddenly, there was muffled shouting, a few more thumps, and the sound of heavy footsteps.

The door to the hut slammed open, and Toothless came bounding in, and Astrid was only vaguely aware of the fact that his destroyed saddle and tail fin pulleys had been removed, Gobber, Thora, and Stoick quickly following behind him. Toothless released a sad warble at the sight of his rider, his ear plates falling flat. He nuzzled Hiccup's cheek, crooning, and Astrid had to pat his head in a soothing manner in order to keep him from jarring Hiccup's wounds.

Stoick, Gobber, and Thora immediately flocked to Hiccup's side, and Gobber, who has already lost two limbs, shared a glance with the Elder as they examined the wound. Astrid refused to move, keeping her eyes on Hiccup's pale, ashy face, the pale green cream spread along it, and Gobber stepped forward, his eyes on the discolored, mangled leg.

"Well," Gobber said, his voice unusually grim, his eyes saddened, "We're gonna need to do somethin' about that."

"How much?" Stoick asked, his voice hoarse, and Gobber and Thora shared a glance, along with the Elder.

Thora placed her hand on Hiccup's leg, just a little above the tourniquet, and the Elder gave her an approving nod. "I'd say to about here."

Astrid glanced at the silent Chief to her mother to Gobber. Gobber was proof that Vikings survive lost limbs all the time, but he had been in his twenties; in fact, no one in the Hairy Hooligans younger than twenty had lost a leg, and Astrid wanted to sob. Hiccup was so young, they all were, only fifteen, and he was going to be like this for the rest of his life.

And, he was in that sort-of-awake-but-really-not kind of consciousness, and they were going to cut through him, and Astrid wanted to panic when she realized that he would feel it, wake up completely when they did the deed. He was going to scream and cry and struggle, and they were going to have to hold him down while they cut through his flesh. The knowledge of the pain he would experience made Astrid's breathing uneven, her chest heavy as tears began to set in, and she watched through blurred eyes as Gobber let a small axe heat up above the hearth, the blade glowing orange, seeming to wave around in the heat.

Suddenly, she heard a pathetic croon, and her attention was brought to Toothless; Stoick was pushing him back toward the door, the dragon struggling, and she suddenly found herself in the crossfire, being pushed along with him.

"Wait, no!" She fought against Stoick and her mother, fighting alongside Toothless in an attempt to reach their friend, "No, I can help! I _have_ to help!"

"No, Astrid," Thora said sternly as she helped Stoick remove her and Toothless from the hut and onto the porch, "Not this time; you're not experienced enough."

"But," Astrid stuttered, "I have to help!_ Hiccup!_"

The door slammed shut.

"Hiccup..." Astrid sobbed, slamming a weak fist on the door, letting her forehead fall against it as she breathed in shaky breaths through her tears. There was a mournful whine next to her, and Toothless stood on his hind legs for a brief moment, scratching at the door before he fell on all fours again and gave Astrid a desperate look.

Astrid could only shake her head. "I'm sorry," She whispered, and Toothless whined again, his eyes drawn to the door.

"Astrid."

Astrid started a little, turning her wide eyes to the rest of the recruits, their expressions hollow, grim, and mournful. They were all on the porch, their dragons surrounding them. The Zippleback and Nightmare had taken comfortable spots on the roof, the Gronkle joining them on the porch, and Astrid was a little surprised to see the dark blue Nadder from training curled up comfortable beside Stormfly.

Her eyes rested on Ruffnut, who was the one who had said her name, and the older girl took a small step toward her, resting a hand on her shoulder, and Astrid jerked away from the touch, sobbing fully, sniffling, tears streaming down, her breaths quick, and she wished she could just _stop_, but she couldn't.

"He's _awake!_" Astrid sobbed, "He's awake and they're gonna cut him up!"

Ruffnut tried to touch her again, and Astrid stepped away. "He's gonna feel it! He's gonna feel _all_ of it!" Through her tears, she was only vaguely aware of the recruits sharing horrified looks, the knowledge of what was happening to Hiccup right now finally catching up to them, and Astrid let herself fall back against the door, sliding to her bottom, her hands clutching her hair in a desperate hold as she sobbed with all her strength, ignoring Stormfly's sad croon as the Nadder nuzzled her shoulder.

And then, a strangled scream broke through the almost silence.

The recruits jumped at the sound, their attention brought to the door for a brief moment before they shared a horrified look. Astrid cringed, her grip in her hair tightening, burying her face into her knees, trying to drown out the sounds, but finding herself unable to.

Toothless released a high-pitched noise of distress, scratching at the wall again in a panicked manner. They heard Hiccup cry out again as the sound of something heavy hitting wood resounded, and Snotlout crossed his arms and turned away, imagining the amputation axe hitting the wooden bed with a heavy thump.

The screaming increased in volume just after the thump resounded, and the recruits pursed their lips, their eyes burning, all sharing the same wish that Hiccup would just pass out already so he wouldn't have to go through this, but they knew he was too stubborn for such a thing, and that he would hold onto consciousness for longer than what really made sense.

Suddenly, the screams stopped, and all they heard were strangled sobs, mixing with the sound of Toothless' own cries, creating one of the most heartbreaking harmonies they had ever heard.

* * *

Astrid spent the rest of her week teaching the villagers about the dragons. It had been quite a shock when a whole swarm of them suddenly appeared from a distance, landing in places all over Berk, and Astrid was positive that they were all the dragons from the destroyed Nest, freed from the Red Death's control.

It was a little satisfying, finally having the respect of the villagers, but the feeling was hollow, the one she would've celebrated with stuck in an improper sleep.

His fever increased, and that was never good with a recent amputee, and Astrid prayed to every god she knew that they would just let Hiccup survive the poison of his wounds, let him wake up, let him be _okay_.

She could already imagine what he would do when he awoke; give his leg a once over, tell her that she was right that day in Training, when she said battles were only fun if you got a scar out of it, say that with big battles come big scars, say that what they did was awesome _and_ scary at the same time, but totally worth it. Tell her that he was going to find a way to the forge to make his own leg because he didn't trust anyone else with what little limbs he had left, and Astrid would get upset and tell him that, that joke wasn't funny, that he really scared her, and then he would pop her one on the arm and say, _'That was for being a scaredy-cat'_.

Astrid cringed at the imagined scenario, taking in a deep breath before excusing herself from the day's lessons, ignoring the questioning glances to learning villagers and recruits sent her, Stormfly quickly following her.

She didn't know where she was going when she walked, but she suddenly found herself in the forge, at the entrance of the room that Hiccup had made his own. Stormfly, unable to fit in the small space, stayed behind as she hollowly walked into the room.

She looked around, the walls covered in sketches and designs, the desk buried beneath drawings and metal pieces and tools and leather. She grabbed the leather book, flipping through it, looking at the drawings of Toothless, the designs for his saddle and fake tail, the designs for a flight suit, the designs for a flaming sword, the designs for the bola launcher, the designs for different prosthetics-

Astrid stopped, quickly flipping back to the previous page. Astrid knew that Hiccup usually had a hand in designing new prosthetics for the amputees to give out on Stump Day, but this one was very different, so... _Hiccup._ The way it was drawn made it obvious that it would be a mixture of wood and metal, with a spring-like mechanism somewhere near the bottom, and Astrid could see that it was made to hold the occupant's weight perfectly.

Astrid quickly flipped back to the page showing the designs for Toothless' saddle and tail fin, an idea forming, and she glanced up at the sound of human talking and draconian snorting.

Stormfly warbled, stepping out of the way so Astrid could excite the tiny room, and she came upon the sight of Gobber, happily talking to the rather lazy looking Hotburple that had taken a liking to him, which Gobber had affectionately named Grump. **[1]**

Gobber froze for a brief moment when he saw her and Stormfly, his hand resting on the smiling Grump's head, the dragon's tongue lolling out happily.

"Well, hey there, Astrid," Gobber tried to smile, but she knew his mind was still on his wounded apprentice, "What can I do for ya?"

"You can make this," Astrid immediately answered, holding open the book to show off the prosthetic, and Gobber slowly took it from her, his brows furrowed as he stared at the design before slowly flipping through the pages, stopping on what was most likely the page showing off Toothless' saddle and tail fin.

Grump let out a few confused snorts, nudging the suddenly silent man, and Gobber let a grin slowly creep up onto his face.

"I think I see where you're goin' with this, lass."

* * *

Astrid carefully held the spoon of willow bark tea over Hiccup's mouth, the boy instinctively swallowing it in his sleep. It had been three weeks, and he still hasn't awoken. His bed had been removed from his bedroom, placed next to the hearth in the main room, and he lay in a dead man's position within it, flat on his back, his head on the pillow, his arms by his side, resting above the furs.

The tea was brought in by Elder Gothi to help subdue the fever, which had, thankfully, receded some. He was no longer burning to the touch, but just a slight warm, and Astrid was sure the gods had finally taken pity on her and answered her prayers.

Toothless sat on the other side of the bed, his wide eyes on his rider's prone form. He hasn't moved a muscle sense Hiccup was taken home, and Astrid was positive he hasn't even _blinked_ yet. Stormfly stood next to him, cocking her head as she stared at the usually cheerful dragon, and she gave him a slight nuzzle in an attempt to comfort her friend.

Toothless suddenly blinked, his head tilting slightly, a quiet, curious sound escaping him when a thin line of tea dribbled down Hiccup's slack chin, and Astrid gave him a small smile as she set the spoon and steaming cup aside, taking a small rag to wipe away the fallen tea.

"It's fine," Astrid murmured reassuringly, and Toothless blinked up at her, "It happens sometimes; people can only swallow so much in their sleep."

Toothless released another croon, and Astrid could've sworn she heard an "oh" in the tone as the dragon returned his attention back to Hiccup. Astrid gave him another smile before grabbing the small cup of the pale green, sweet smelling salve and scooping some up into her fingers. She gently spread some along the burn marks on Hiccup's face, which were starting to scab over, the only visible ones remaining running along his forehead, cheek, and jaw.

Toothless let out a quiet, curious sound, leaning down and sniffing at the salve as Astrid closed the cup and set it aside. He turned his attention back to Astrid, watching curiously as she stood, replacing her medical items back into her usual box.

She looked back down at Hiccup, and, subconsciously, she ran a few fingers along the pale scar on his chin, smiling when he released a small breath through his slightly open mouth, unconsciously leaning into her touch.

She let her fingers linger on the scar, examining him. The scar on his chin was one of many, though it was the most noticeable. There were plenty of very noticeable scars on his hands, though; tiny, little, pale scars littering his fingers, his palms, and the backs of his hands, as well as a large pale scar running along his left palm, and Astrid knew they were from training so hard with that axe as opposed to the forge work others probably assumed they were from.

She felt a blush creep on her face when she remembered feeling those hands on her during their flight with Stormfly, the rough scars and calluses feeling surprisingly nice on her skin. She wondered what they were, exactly, remembering the small, wet kiss he had placed on her cheek before escaping on Toothless.

Her parents kept making wedding jokes, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if this is what it would be like to be married to him, taking care of him like this.

She let her smile stay on her face as she fingered the scale necklace that had miraculously survived before she looked at Stormfly. "Read to go?" Stormfly squawked, shaking her head like a bird as she followed Astrid to the door.

Astrid glanced back, her smile widening.

Hiccup's lips twitched.

* * *

Astrid spent the rest of next week with the recruits, helping the villagers integrate in with their newly found companions, and she found herself, along with the others, laughing and smiling as they did their jobs, and she even helped the recruits name their dragons.

Ruffnut had decided to call her claimed head Barf, which Astrid supposed made sense considering it spews out gas, and Tuffnut called his head Belch, which also made sense considering it sparks; together, as one dragon, they were BarfBelch. Fishlegs had decided to name his Gronkle Meatlug, and Astrid wasn't sure if she should tell him that Meatlug was a girl or just let him figure it out for himself. Snotlout had decided to call his Nightmare Hookfang, and Astrid assumed it was either due to the small horn on the Nightmare's nose, or the way his teeth curved up like hooks.

The dark blue Nadder from Training had taken a liking to them, following them everywhere they went, and Astrid decided to name him herself. She named him Snaptrap, though the others didn't agree with her and continuously argued over his name, despite the fact that the Nadder answered only to 'Snaptrap' when he was called.

Astrid had also spent time with Grump and Gobber in the forge, watching as the man carved wood, sewn leather, and pounded away at metal. When the week was up, he had finally finished their project.

Despite being warned against it, Astrid stayed and watched when they put the prosthetic onto Hiccup's leg. She had watched as they fastened the metal strap around the end of the stump; locking the metal together with two screws on the side. They then attached the prosthetic to the end of the strap, hooking the wooden end into place. They had given him new trousers afterwards, the pant legs customized to suit the new limb; they had cut the left pant leg to just over the metal place holder, ending right where the wood began, before tightly tying a rope around the fabric, keeping it in place over the wood.

Afterwards, they had let Elder Gothi check him over, and she was elated at the news that his sleep patterns had changed, and that he was now in a proper sleep, and that he would wake up any day now.

And, on the final day of the week, the Elder's predictions came true.

* * *

Hiccup began stirring, his brows furrowing, breathing out groggy sighs, and Toothless leaned forward, sniffing at him. The force of the air he puffed out swished Hiccup's hair, and he leaned back a little, crooning impatiently, growling out something that sounded very similar to, "Wake. Up."

He nudged Hiccup's cheek, and the boy dazedly opened his eyes, blinking groggily. Toothless crooned happily at the sight of his opened eyes, and began nudging him impatiently and excitedly. Hiccup gave a tired smile, patting him. "Hey, Toothless," He said weakly, and Toothless gave him a small lick, "Good to see you, too, bud-ARGH!"

Toothless accidentally stepped on Hiccup's stomach during his impatient nudging, and Hiccup bolted up, hugging his stomach in pain. It woke him up completely, and he glanced around his room, finding himself in his house, his bed moved to the main room in front of the hearth, which had a stand and pot sitting over it. "Ahhh-I'm in my house." He looked at Toothless. "_You're_ in my house." Toothless wiggled around impatiently, licking his lips, his eyes incredibly wide. "There is a _Night Fury_ in my house."

Toothless began bounding around the room excitedly. "Does my dad know you're in here?" Toothless bounced off a support beam, hopping over the hearth, knocking over the boiling pot in the process. "Oh, what...?"

Toothless landed in front of Hiccup, sticking his face close and giving impatient grumbles. Hiccup held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay!"

Toothless bounded off again, his attention on the rafters. "Tooth-no, no, Toothless." The dragon ignored him, hopping onto the rafter, scratching his back legs against it as he tried to right himself. "Toothless!" Toothless stopped, looking down at him at the sound of his stern voice.

"Oh, come _on-_" Hiccup cut himself off as he shifted to get out of bed. He paused, something feeling off. He furrowed his brows, pulling the covers away from his legs. His brows lifted up, the sight startling him, horrifying him, and overwhelming him all at once.

He stared, feeling queasy, afraid he might throw up. _This was too much._ He swallowed heavily, breathing deeply and shakily, feeling his eyes well up from the shock.

Toothless hopped down from the rafters, tilting his head with a soft croon.

Hiccup took a moment to himself, allowing the feelings to pass as he stared before releasing a long sigh through his nose, looking resigned.

He swung his right leg over the bed, letting his foot touch the floor.

Then he let his metal leg rest beside it with a soft clink.

Toothless narrowed his eyes, sniffing at it. Halfway down his shin, Hiccup's leg ended and a fake one began, and he could feel the coolness of a metal place holder on the middle of his shin. The prosthetic was spring-loaded, made of both wood and metal. He recognized the design as one of his own, but he never thought he would actually be using it on himself. He never expected to come out of that fight unscathed, but a full on _missing limb?_

Toothless lifted his head to look him in the eye, giving a soft croon. Hiccup gave him a disbelieving look, releasing a breath. He sucked in a deep one before grabbing the bed post, lifting himself up.

He kept all his weight on his right leg and then took a step, stumbling a little with a pained breath. He waited a moment, stifling the pain as he took another breath.

He took another step.

The pain made him tumble this time, and Toothless quickly pushed forward, catching him with his head. He gently pushed Hiccup upright. "Okay," Hiccup whispered, patting him a little, "Thanks, bud."

Hiccup used Toothless as a crutch, hopping toward the front door. He let go of Toothless for a moment to open it.

He promptly slammed it shut at the sight of a hovering Monstrous Nightmare. He looked at Toothless, "Okay. Stay here."

He opened the door again, but froze at the sight that greeted him.

"C'mon, guys!" Snotlout yelled from the back of the Nightmare, "Get ready! One more time, here we go!" He flew off, and the rest of the recruits, minus Astrid, quickly followed him on their own dragons. Nadders huddled together in a group atop a house, and Hiccup was positive he recognized one as the Nadder who helped them in the battle, Terrible Terrors fought over a bucket of fish, Hotburples, Hobbelgrunts, Monstrous Nightmares, Zipplebacks, Gronkles, Mood Dragons, Snafflefangs, dragons of all kinds, casually walked and flew throughout the village, Vikings walking alongside them, completely relaxed.

"I knew it," Hiccup shrugged helplessly, "I'm dead."

There was a hearty laughter as Stoick approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder, "No, but you gave it your best shot."

He gestured around the village, "What'd ya think? Astrid's been teaching all of us about the dragons while you were asleep. People took to it quite nicely."

Hiccup shook his head, a smile beginning to form on his face.

Somebody noticed him, and then there were cries of, "It's Hiccup! He's awake!" echoing through the village. Soon enough, he was surrounded by Vikings, including Thora and Cnut, and he limped heavily as his father placed a hand on his shoulder and led him to the middle of the crowd. His Uncle Spitelout even had a Terror on his back.

"Turns out, all we needed was a little more of Astrid," Stoick smiled, gesturing vaguely over Hiccup, "And a little more of... _this._"

Hiccup gave an overwhelmed grin. "But, you just pointed to all of me."

"Well, most of you," Gobber said as he pushed through the crowd, a happy looking, lazy looking Hotburple following close behind, carrying a bunch of red, metal, and leather material on its back. He gestured to Hiccup's foot. "That bit there's my handy work. With a little 'Hiccup flair' thrown in. Think it'll do?"

Hiccup pretended to inspect his foot. "I might make a few tweaks," He joked, and everyone gave a little laugh.

He let out a startled sound when he was suddenly thrown to the side, feeling a face bury itself in his neck, arms wrapped tightly around him. He hesitated for a moment in surprise before returning the hug, wrapping his arms securely around Astrid.

She lifted her head, looking up at him with watery, relieved, elated blue eyes, a small smile on her face. "You scared me..." She whispered, and Hiccup gave her a gentle smile as they parted.

Astrid suddenly gasped, her hand shooting up to her throbbing arm after Hiccup gave it a nice, hard hit, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"That," He said, an odd smile on his face, "Was for being a scaredy-cat."

Astrid wanted to laugh when her prediction came true, but she held it back in her frustration, throwing her non-sore arm up in annoyance. "What?" She said irritantly, "Is, is it always gonna be like this? Because I-"

She was cut off when Hiccup suddenly cupped the back of her head, swiftly pulling her forward, capturing her soft lips with his rough ones. He kissed her. On the lips. In front of everyone.

She could hear the hoots and hollers, and the cat calls and wolf whistles of everyone around her.

If he wasn't holding her up, she was sure she would've keeled over.

After a few seconds, he pulled away, revealing her dazed face to everyone. She glanced around before shrugging, smiling a little, a flush staining her face. "I mean, I could get used to it."

Hiccup gave a satisfied sort of smile.

Stoick placed a hand on his shoulder as Gobber took the newly made saddle and tail off of Grump's back, handing it to him. "Welcome home, son."

Hiccup gave him a genuine smile before his attention was suddenly caught by shouts.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Hiccup looked over, catching sight of Toothless bounding out of the house. He hopped over different Vikings, knocking them to the ground, giving Hiccup big, puppy dog eyes. His Uncle Spitelout took the brunt of it, scaring the Terrible Terror right off his shoulder. Toothless crooned impatiently, and Astrid and Hiccup shared a glance and a small laugh.

* * *

Hiccup snapped his fake leg into place, the newly designed stirrup locking with the prosthetic, creating one shape. He pushed the pedal back and forth, watching as the red tail fin flared in and out before grinning, looking over at Astrid, sitting atop of Stormfly beside him with a grin of her own.

"Hey, Hiccup," Astrid suddenly said, her smile turning a mixture of both embarrassed and nervous, "Um... back there, when you, uh... you know..."

Hiccup gave a tiny smirk, shifting Toothless closer so he could look up at her with their height differences on their dragons, "Yeah?"

"Well, um... does that make us... are we...?"

"There's no need to stutter, Astrid," Hiccup said, leaning up a little so their faces were inches apart, "I mean, I _did_ kiss you."

His eyes suddenly shifted from amused to devious, and Astrid didn't react in time when he reached up and kissed her. Again. She closed her eyes and smiled into the soft kiss as he gently pushed her bangs aside and pulled away, smiling up at her. "So," He smirked, "About that contract."

Astrid laughed, moving away, and glancing down at Stormfly, patting her a little. "You ready?" Stormfly squawked, shaking her head out a little, and Astrid's smile widened as Hiccup leaned forward a little on Toothless, his grin still firmly held in place, and she took in the new world around her.

_This is Berk._

_It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three._

Astrid and Hiccup shared a glance before the two took the skies, and they flew together around Berk, the sun beaming, probably the last day before winter struck. Everything was just... right, the smell of the ocean wafting along the small breeze, dragons and vikings mingling together within the village.

The flew in close to the Vikings, whooping and hollering in laughter, startling a few unsuspecting villagers; one man nearly spat out his ale when they shot by, catching him off guard.

_Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so._

Astrid glanced over at Hiccup, catching sight of the brilliant green eyes she had missed looking into these past four weeks. It was amazing that, just two months ago, all she wanted was to be acknowledged as a Viking by her fellow villagers, and now, she couldn't imagine her life without Stormfly.

Or Toothless.

Or Hiccup.

_The only upside are the pets._

"Yeah!" Hiccup cheered, holding up an arm in a victory pose as Toothless and Stormfly did aerial spins, each trying to outdo the other, and Astrid hollered in laughter as they sped ahead of them.

They passed one of the wooden bridges, Toothless running across it before he flared out his wings, taking to the air again. They were soon joined by the others, the twins on their Zippleback, Fishlegs on his Gronkle, and Snotlout on his Nightmare.

_While other places have ponies or... parrots._

They flew by them when Hiccup and Astrid waved them over, and soon they were all racing around Berk; laughing, joking, having a great time.

_We have..._

The war was over, and their troubles were back to normal, teenage Viking things. Astrid was finally accepted by her people, Hiccup by his father, and the two were held as village heroes. They were finally happy, and it felt like nothing could stand in their way.

Suddenly, everything was okay.

_Dragons._

* * *

**Yay, mega happy ending!**

**1)_ Grump_**_ is Gobber's dragon from the second movie_

**I hope you enjoyed, and please be sure to read the author's note I'm placing up as the next chapter.**


	15. End Notes And Disclaimers

**PLEASE READ**

**I wanted to put this in here to give credit where it's due, so:**

**Disclaimer: **All characters, as well as the plot, belong to **DreamWorks**, and the producers and writers of the movie.

**Disclaimer: **Some scenes were taken from **HTTYD2** clips, as well as some scenes from **Gift of the Night Fury**. I also used some **deleted scenes** from the first movie.

**Disclaimer: **The battle between the Riders and the Red Death, as well as Hiccup's solo battle with it, was inspired by scenes from fanfiction author **reens**' story **The Choice**, as well as some ideas given to me through PM from **Midoriko-sama**, and some canon, so all credit should definitely go to them. I also highly recommend reading their stories, as they are pretty amazing and very beautifully written.

**Riders of Berk: **The continuation of this story in the **Riders of Berk** series is currently posted.

And there's **In Dragons We Trust**. I hope you enjoyed :)


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